More Good News: Cuccinelli's Growing Money Woes

The main groups that have heretofore catapulted Ken Cuccinelli into politics have been far right religious extremists best exemplified by The Family Foundation, a sinister organization with ties to hate groups and anti-contraception extremists, and the ignorant and racist Tea Party elements in Virginia.  But Cuccinelli's slavish obedience to the frightening agenda of these factions has alienated business interest that recognize that giving Virginia of a state that wants to institute a modern day Inquisition is not good for business (Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms seemingly recognizes that tourists avoid destinations deemed too extreme).  The result has been business leaders either jumping aboard the Terry McAuliffe campaign or at minimum, not giving money to Cuccinelli who has had to rely on out of state money.  But that hasn't been enough.  A piece in Politico looks at Cuccinelli's worsening money woes.  Here are excerpts:

Ken Cuccinelli is getting crushed on the Virginia airwaves, and it’s probably only going to get worse – a major factor thwarting the Republican’s hopes of a comeback in a governor’s race that’s been slipping away.

The left has spent $7.5 million more on television than the right up to this point, according to sources tracking the air war. The totals are $20.2 million from Democrats and affiliated outside groups to $12.7 million from the Republicans and their allies.

The attorney general is himself a relatively weak fundraiser who never adequately cultivated the major donors he needed in the business community. He’s also running against former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, one of the most prolific fundraisers in modern political history.

A string of polls showing Cuccinelli trailing — including a POLITICO poll conducted over the weekend that had him down by 9 points — has only made it harder to raise cash, while deterring some outside groups from spending as much as they might have in the year’s marquee contest.

The result is that Cuccinelli’s campaign has been making smaller and smaller ad buys over the past three weeks.

McAuliffe has already reserved about $2 million in airtime over the final four weeks, while Cuccinelli has not reserved any time past this week. The Democrats, for instance, claimed $700,000 of choice broadcast airtime for the final week of the race in the state’s four largest markets, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Cuccinelli operatives note that they have placed their buys on a week-to-week basis since April.

The disparity doesn’t mean the race is over for Cuccinelli, but it’s an enormous obstacle in a race that’s already tilted heavily against him. The simple reality is that TV ads matter a lot in a big state, where a limited number of voters get to see the candidates in person and with broadcast media that many Republicans see as predisposed to favor Democrats.

This helps explain why 56 percent of likely voters hold an unfavorable view of Cuccinelli in the POLITICO poll, compared to 34 percent who view him favorably.

I personally hope that (i) Cuccinelli goes down to a crushing defeat that ends his political career and (ii) that post election he comes out of the closet - no one is so hysterically anti-gay unless they are a serious self-loathing closet case.