Cuccinelli Headlines Murray Fundraiser

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by ARLnow.com July 27, 2010 at 10:26 am 2,568 38 Comments

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli traveled to Alexandria last night to attend a small private fundraiser for fellow Republican Patrick Murray, who’s trying to unseat long-time incumbent Rep. Jim Moran.

Cuccinelli declined to discuss his controversial lawsuit against the federal government over the Obama health care reform law, but he had plenty to say about Murray’s opponent and the Democrats’ record on the economy.

Moran does not provide “the kind of leadership the Founding Fathers had in mind,” Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told the crowd of about 75 supporters. But “in Patrick Murray, you have a better alternative.”

Cuccinelli warned of the dangers of unchecked deficit spending and spoke of the need for pro-business policies.

Murray praised the Republican leadership in Richmond for managing to eke out a budget surplus in a weak economy. He blasted Moran for telling MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that “the economy has recovered.”

“The politicians in Washington, DC — they don’t listen to us,” Murray said. “People are tired of $13 trillion in debt.”

Murray said Cuccinelli would be back to help his campaign in the fall. Murray, who has lagged in fundraising, has held events with two major statewide figures — Cuccinelli and former governor George Allen — in the past two weeks.

Fat Kid.

looks like Murray has come to terms with reality and given up any chance of winning if he thinks teaming up with Cuccinelli will win him votes in alexandria/arlington/falls church. The cooch is a nutcase.
janine

All the announcements I received from the Murray campaign promised a “State of the Suit” update from Cuccinelli. What’s up with that? http://www.murray4congress.com/

Did aliens abduct half of the 150 attendees promised by the Murray campaign spokesman? http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/07/virginia_attorney_general_ken_2.html
TuesdayChild

Wow. shifting to the right before the general election….not a good strategy. Unfortunate that there is not a better candidate here. Painful to vote for Moran.
Not Patrick Murray

Patrick Murray does not have a clue as to what Virginia’s 8th Congressional District is or who the constituents are within its borders.

For those of you who are Republicans and are against the weak candidacy of Patrick Murray, here’s a blog ‘Not Patrick Murray’ (http://notpatrickmurray.blogspot.com/) for you to join in resounding complaints of why we keep putting weak candidates like Murray up against Jim Moran.

Patrick Murray is lagging in fund raising? The dude needs to pick up the clue phone! LOL With a guy like Mike Lane working with him, he’s bound to lose even more than he was expected to lose in November.
Skeptical

I think Northern Virginia Republicans are living in some hallucinatory world. In that world, if they screech about taxes long enough, everyone will suddenly jump up and say “You know what? You’re right!!” and storm the polls to elect them regardless of their other positions.

Nobody is going to make a dent in Jim Moran unless he/she explicitly identifies as a moderate Republican who will not vote to restrict reproductive rights, has no ax to grind about gay people, and isn’t invested in “culture wars.” You can define yourself that way and still support reduced spending, a smaller Federal government, and similar positions that are “conservative” in the best sense of the word. But if you’re running in the 8th I doubt you can even afford to be at home to Ken Cuccinelli, never mind asking him for a pat on the back.
- Dan
  
  Sounds kind of like Tom Davis alas….
  - Skeptical
    
    If Tom Davis had ever moved to the 8th he might have had a running shot. He and Moran were practically a buddy act, as far as that goes. But I’ve seen them on the same stump during combined debate events, and what you noticed was that Davis could never quite wipe the sneer of contempt off his face when he confronted his opponent. He would have been undercut by the dislike most people feel for sneerers.
    
    Moran remains a master of Good Cop schmooze, conveying through all kinds of probably instinctive tone and body language that he forgives his challenger for being a little young and hotheaded, we all want what’s best for the district and the nation don’t we? He’s relaxed, confident and personal. He knows how to work a crowd or talk to an individual, even an individual who’s hostile or on record as opposing him, and in a disarming way that makes people want to forgive him his trespasses — in fact, opponents who take aim at his many sins usually just end up looking shrill and mean. Yup, it’s showmanship, but politics is show biz for homely people. Add it to the match in political positions with the majority of the district (thanks to redistricting) and you can see why he does a slam dunk every other year.
    - Dan
      
      It is a real shame that politicians like Tom Davis have been driven off by the toxic atmosphere of politics as they are being conducted now-a-days…
- MB
  
  “unless he/she explicitly identifies as a moderate Republican who will not vote to restrict reproductive rights, has no ax to grind about gay people, and isn’t invested in “culture wars.” You can define yourself that way and still support reduced spending, a smaller Federal government, and similar positions that are “conservative” in the best sense of the word.”
  
  8th District Republicans had a chance to select pretty much that candidate in the 2008 primary. They picked the liar with the last minute mailers, instead. By a hefty margin.
  - Let’s Be Free
    
    MB, straight from the losing GOP candidate’s (Berry’s) website:
    
    Abortion – I am the only pro-life candidate running for Congress in Virginia’s 8th District.
    
    The website is still up, so I think you’re going to need a different set of facts to fit your premise.
    - MB
      
      Did you see the part where I typed “2008”? Ellmore v. Singh.
      - Casual reader
        
        LOL. MB, you always post good stuff.
        
        That was a brutal 2008 primary, too. The GOP litmus test approach simply does not work in most of NOVA.
Greg

Wow. Hanging out with Kookinelli is not going to win votes in this area.
Let’s Be Free

That’s right, keep Jimbo in office, so you can ensure funding for the pedestrian bridge to the sewage plant. Please, keep this kind of progressiveism up, pretty please.
VA dem

With the crazy antics Cuccinelli and McDonnell have pulled, they’ve made me embarrassed to live in Virginia.
- Darwin
  
  Yeah McDonnel creating the first revenue surplus in 4 years without raising taxes, bringing many new businesses including NG to VA, and overturning rulings he found were anti-homosexual must really upset Democrats who would rather see the state suffer than a Republican succeed.
  - Someone needs to look the word “surplus” up in a dictionary
    
    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-opinions/2010/07/mcdonnells_surplus_isnt_a_surp.html
    - Darwin
      
      Nice try, here are McDonnell’s many many accomplishments by the numbers:
      http://www.bobmcdonnell.com/index.php/blog/comments/6_months_by_the_numbers
      Maybe you wish old King Kaine was still around using hundreds of millions of dollars from the rainy day fund to cover his massive spending. What a disaster he was for VA!
Not Patrick Murray

Let’s address the fact that Patrick Murray has an absolutely perennial loser, Mike Lane, working on his campaign.

Republicans in Virginia’s 8th Congressional District are all too familiar with Mike Lane’s ugly brand of politics, the kind of politics that really hit way below the belt, even for conservatives.

With Mike Lane on Patrick Murray’s campaign, Murray has definitely resigned himself to a total loser who 1.) doesn’t have a job 2.) doesn’t know how to win 3.) is well-known in Arlington and Alexandria for his previous mean-spirited losing campaigns, and 4.) did I mention the dude doesn’t have a job? Many people in America don’t have jobs today, but Mike Lane apparently doesn’t want to do ‘paid work,’ hence he has all the time in the world to help bring down Murray’s weak and severely underfunded campaign.

That’s right, Mike Lane is working for Patrick Murray, for free. While it’s no shock that Murray will take people to volunteer, for free, to work for his campaign, apparently he didn’t check on the very unstellar and unspectacular track record of Mr. Michael Lane.

Since Patrick Murray didn’t do his ‘due diligence’ with Mike Lane, can you imagine how he would represent the 8th? It would clearly be a disaster!

Now we have to wait until 2012 to come up with a better candidate than Patrick Murray to run against Jim Moran!
Frustrated Arlington Republican

Mike Lane. WOW!

Apparently Mike Lane doesn’t have a clue about how to win, so why in the hell does he continue to screw up local Republican campaigns?

Mike Lane is the poster child for failure, all the way across the board, so if voters are looking at Patrick Murray, then look beyond him to Mike Lane. You’ll see “LOSER” in big bold letters.

Truthfully, Mike Lane must enjoy being a loser because he has been a part of so many losing Republican campaigns.

I’ll bet Mike Lane’s parents were glad to see him leave home, but now, locally, unfortunately, we’ve got to put up with him screwing up Republicans running for office.

Mike Lane, please, for the sake of the Republican party, look in the mirror, admit you’re a loser, and just quit politics altogether. You’ll be better off and local Republicans will be better off as well.
Jennifer Hillman

Mike Lane is a complete idiot, plain and simple.

Patrick Murray has to be equally an idiot for having a guy like Mike Lane work for him.

I’m not shocked that Lane is working for Murray though. Lane is like a bad penny, he always turns up.

Both Lane and Murray are losers and the election results in November will prove that fact. I’d love to know where the Murray ‘victory party’ is going to be, just to watch the expression on the faces of those dumb assses!
Waikato

Does not look good for Patrick Murray having someone like Mike Lane in his nest – the dick has expired city tags, got booted for unpaid fines!!! I am not voting for anyone who even thinks this guy is nice. He needs some classes in working for a living 101 and stop blunging off the folks of Alexandria…..
Terry Warner

Mike Lane drives around is Mazda Miata convertible with expired Virginia license plates on his car, May of 2010. Hmmm, it’s almost August, yet Mr. Lane appears to have missed going to the DMV? Nice move, Patrick Murray, having someone on your staff who is such a L-O-S-E-R!

If you’re a Republican, don’t bother wasting your vote on Election Day. Save your frustration up for 2012. Hopefully someone will be a strong, well-financed Republican candidate who does not know who Mike Lane is and once told of what a bum the guy is, shuns him like the plague!

If I had a choice between diarhea and a dose of Mike Lane, I’d take diarhea, because at least that way I would know that eventually, through all the crap, I’d get rid of it. With Mike Lane, I’d still have the smell.
Roger Blake

Question: If so many people know of Mike Lane as a Republican loser, why is the guy still in local area politics?

Does the fact that Republicans in the area always lose miserably correlate to Mike Lane working on their campaigns?

People who write responses seem to have Mike Lane as the captain of the RMS Titanic when it comes to politics.

If Mike Lane is that bad, people should just tell the guy that he should go into some other line of work, like working for Democrats.

Hey, it’s just a thought, but with Mike Lane’s supposed bad track record with Republicans, can you imagine what damage he could create if he was working with local Democrats?

Maybe Mike Lane needs to switch parties for Republicans to win.

Now that’s the ticket!
Jeff

I think that people are giving Mike Lane too much credit, where credit most certainly is not deserved.

First of all, Mike Lane is a stooge, a buffoon, a shameless man who has no morals, a man with little integrity, a man with no values, a man with a proven track local record of Republican defeats.

The mere fact that Patrick Murray associates himself with Mike Lane is damning in itself, but it even more so highlights the judgment of Murray, especially in reflection of his overall campaign team. Who else on Murray’s campaign team is as sketchy of an individual as Mike Lane?

If a candidate is running for office, they need to have people with strong moral values, people who are above reproach, people who have good moral integrity. Mike Lane fits none of those categories which proves that Patrick Murray is not qualified to make decisions on behalf of Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.

The fact is that a guy like Mike Lane, who truly is a simple twit, really plays an insignificant role in Republican politics in Northern Virginia. Most Republican candidates who run for office know of Mike Lane’s track record and do not want him working with them or their staffs. Mike Lane tends to gravitate himself to political neophytes, like Patrick Murray, who don’t know him personally, yet are desperate enough to need any help they can get, without knowing his perennial losing track record in Republican campaigns.

Would we all be better off without Mike Lane involving himself in Northern Virginia Republican politics? Is the Pope German?

Alas, Mike Lane is an individual who you can laugh about, feel sorry for, while at the same time you watch him be a part of Patrick Murray’s fast decreasing poll numbers against Jim Moran.

Mike Lane truly has no shame.
- Ann Marie
  
  Wasn’t Mike Lane on Frank Fannon’s successfully winning campaign team in Alexandria last summer?
  - Donnie
    
    Absolutely not!
    
    I know from very good sources that Mike Lane had nothing to do with Frank Fannon’s “successfully winning campaign team”, as you put it, in Alexandria last summer.
    
    I’m guessing that Fannon must have known of Lane’s losing track record and wanted nothing to do with him. Fannon who is an Alexandria native definitely must know who Mike Lane is because he didn’t have Lane on his campaign team.
    
    Frank Fannon seems like he is a very sharp individual and I also guess that he would not associate himself with a low-life loser like Mike Lane, which was a smart move on Fannon’s part because he won as a Republican in Alexandria.
Robert

Patrick Murray has cobbled together a very inept, unorganized, rookie campaign team, many who work for him just for the thrill of being on a campaign, be it a severely losing effort. Seriously, in a district that leans to the left, but yet is hungry for an alternative to Moran, Murray has gone so far to the right, he makes Cuccinelli look like a flaming liberal.

Murray’s campaign team is highly idealistic, to a fault, which, if they had any political acumen, which they absolutely don’t, they would help steer Murray to a much more moderate political path, more in tune with many voters on both sides of the aisle in Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.

Murray though, has proven that he doesn’t want to win because he has absolutely no clue as to how voters in his district traditionally vote.

Patrick Murray will suffer an embarrassing loss on Election Day in November. Murray will then fade away, never to be heard of politically ever again.
Not Patrick Murray

Thank God for a blogger with some common sense, like Josh St. Louis, who has posted a very fair and balanced piece about the abysmal campaign of Patrick Murray.

Check out Josh’s comments at RedNova8: http://rednova8.com/wordpress/?p=2607

What is even more bizarre, is that one has to assume that Patrick Murray, or some of his “crack” campaign staff, has been reading the blogs, and comments, much of which are negative, but, I might say, all true in the aspect of how they are being presented.

It is also interesting that not one person from Murray’s campaign has come forward to refute any of the negative comments that have been slung towards Patrick Murray or his campaign staff? My guess is that they know that they’re on a sinking ship and they’re all scurrying like rats, looking for dry land after Election Day.

Can you imagine waking up, every day, and working for Patrick Murray’s campaign? Imagine the embarrassment they they could feel, but apparently don’t feel, or just how embarrassed they collectively all will be when they’re crying in their beers on Election Night.

Patrick Murray should start writing his concession speech now. And, while Murray’s at it, he should also find out what Jim Moran’s chief of staff’s cell phone number is so he can make the obligatory call to concede the election.

Actually, Murray could make that call any time before Election Night, but it’s obvious that it looks like he’ll have worse numbers than Mark Ellmore did in 2008.

What’s even more troubling for those of us who are Republicans is that we know that Jim Moran’s sizable campaign war chest of over $500,000.00 can virtually go unspent, especially with Patrick Murray and his rookie campaign staff making egregiously stupid bone head moves, day-after-day.

Will a strong, well-financed, well-known, and well-respected potential Republican candidate, like Frank Fannon or Lisa Marie Cheney, please announce that they’re stepping up to the plate to run against Jim Moran in 2012?

In these tough economic times, if you want to piss your money away, give it to Patrick Murray. If you want to see someone stumble and bumble their way to Election Day, watch Patrick Murray. If you’re tired and pissed off that we keep having candidate goof balls like Patrick Murray, contact Frank Fannon, Lisa Marie Cheney, other well known Republicans in our area who can generate serious cash and positive momentum to run against Jim Moran in 2012.

In 2010, Jim Moran is a mortal lock to win BIG in the 8th. What a sin that is too.
- Skeptical
  
  Lisa Marie Cheney was a lobbyist (wow, that will go over in the current political climate), preached from the campaign podium against abortion, and made scripted-sounding speeches attacking Moran for the offenses that have never prevented the 8th District from voting for him. A Republican-leaning, if not very politically involved, friend of mine saw one of her debates on county cable and commented “That is a very irritating lady.” It would be like running a more articulate Sarah Palin in the district.
  
  I repeat what I said above, if anyone imagines they have a crack at unseating Moran, they cannot expect to get it done with negative campaigning and they will have to come to terms with the social agenda of two-thirds of the district.
  - Bill
    
    Frank Fannon, a Republican on Alexandria’s City Council, could be a good candidate to run against Jim Moran in 2012.
    
    Fannon is a very easy going guy, is not mean-spirited, and really cares about people. Fannon has a great heart and you can see that when he interacts with people. Fannon’s genuine Irish sense of humor wins over people, regardless of their political affiliation.
    
    Maybe Fannon could be positioned to run against Moran in 2012. From what I remember, Fannon was born in the City of Alexandria, grew up there, raised as an Alexandrian, started his very successful business in Old Town, and could be just the man constituents on both sides of the aisle could potentially vote for.
    
    Fannon is also a moderate, not a conservative, which is a huge plus for him. His website, http://www.frankfannon.com, is active, and very informative about his platform and issues he cares about. Fannon, with his vast monied-connections, could have the potential of raising vast amounts of cash to match Jim Moran, dollar-for-dollar.
    
    Frank Fannon could be a great choice in 2012 to run against Jim Moran!
Robert

Mike Lane. Mike Lane. Mike Lane. The guy just doesn’t know how embarrassing he really can be, not only for himself, but also for the Republican party.

It would be one thing, if he were well known in the community, well respected in the community, well liked in the community, had a job that people knew him for in the community, and had strong adoration in the community, but none of those traits fit Mike Lane’s billing.

Mike Lane is well known for being a very mean spirited, nasty, divisive individual who, for the most part, does not treat people with common respect. He is extremely foul mouthed in public, so much so that it causes people’s hair to stand up when they hear his over-the-top vulgarity.

Mike Lane is not well respected in the community. As a matter of fact, he has done absolutely nothing of value in either Arlington or Alexandria to win the respect of people in either community. He’s got a lot of extra free time on his hands, yet you won’t find one community-based project to help people that Mike Lane has volunteered for. Not one.

Mike Lane has no job, he’s chronically unemployed, and prefers to mooch off of people to maintain his ‘elegant’ wine imbibing lifestyle, which is so overly pretentious, that people see right through him.

Mike Lane is shunned, for the most part, by people in the community who get to know him. The polarizing effect that he has on people is chilling, but it equally is something that he overly enjoys as well. Mike Lane does not want to win people over with charm because he lacks the character to do so.

With Mike Lane working for Patrick Murray, Murray will be another Republican that Lane can be proud of embarrassing this summer and fall, as Lane watches Murray’s ship of campaign failure go crashing into the rocks.

With a guy like Mike Lane on board, I wonder how many other ‘losers’ are on Murray’s campaign staff. They probably are all habitual losers like Mike Lane.
Sally Rollins

I am somewhat shocked, after reading all of the comments, that not one person has come to either Patrick Murray’s defense, or Mike Lane’s defense, or to the defense of anyone on Patrick Murray’s campaign.

Maybe all the brouhaha over Patrick Murray is for naught. Maybe Murray has thrown in the towel since no one ever responds to any of the statements made against him or his people.

Mr. Murray, you have the floor. You have the opportunity to let your constituents know about how you feel regarding concern about your character and the character of people you have working for you on your campaign.

People have said that Mike Lane has no shame, but I equally will say to you, Mr. Murray, that your lack of response to issues that voters are concerned about shows that you equally have no shame as well.

Mr. Murray, you sir, are the candidate. You sir, want our votes. You sir, have the forum to respond. Step up and let people know how you feel about the people you have working on your campaign! Your inaction up to this point of not addressing concerns that people have about sketchy people directly working for you and representing you on your campaign staff speak volumes of how you are perceived as a candidate in your quest to be our next congressman. You need to wake up and smell the coffee!

You sir, have no guts, no glory, no courage, and, most certainly, no balls!
- ARLnow.com
  
  Well, he is an Army veteran. That counts for something, doesn’t it?
  - Sally Rollins
    
    Yes, Patrick Murray was an Army veteran, and should be applauded for his service, but there are thousands and thousands of veterans from the Army and other branches of the military who have dedicated their lives in service to our great country as well.
    
    Just because Patrick Murray was an Army veteran though does not instantly qualify him to being a great candidate for congressman of Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.
- Anthony
  
  Sally,
  
  Republicans who have any common sense are already shunning Patrick Murray.
  
  People are quickly catching on to just how inept he and his campaign cronies are when they’re out on the trail.
  
  Murray probably won’t respond to you, or anyone else for that matter, because he has to already see the flames of doom that surround him every single day on his campaign. Murray is going down in flames fast and he has to know that.
  
  With Murray’s numbers evaporating every day, one has to wonder when people on his campaign staff will start bailing out to save themselves from getting embarrassed anymore than they are right now.
Sally Rollins

Josh St. Louis is a true saint! I just read his ever-refreshing post about Murray on RedNova8! (http://rednova8.com/wordpress) What a great read on how messed up Patrick Murray’s campaign really is! Thank you Josh for letting people know the truth about what’s really going on with Patrick Murray’s doomed campaign!
Mark

Traditionally, year, after year, after year, Republicans have ALWAYS put up total losers to run against Jim Moran, and 2010 is no exception.

Patrick Murray is a loser and will be even a bigger loser on Election Day.

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