Who is Terry McAuliffe?

I was one of several bloggers invited to join Terry McAuliffe for dinner in NoVA Sunday. I wasn’t able to make the trip; however, because I knew he was going to be in Hampton Roads Saturday, I asked for a few minutes of his time. As it turns out, those “few minutes” turned into nearly two hours of conversation with the man who wants to be the next governor of Virginia.

Anyone who has ever met McAuliffe is always impressed with his energy. I first saw him in person a few months ago at a Hillary Clinton event. He is no different in a one-on-one session, reminiscent of the Energizer Bunny.  He’s a man in a hurry, intent on making his points, leaning across the table that separated us to share off-the-record tidbits.

Terrence “Terry” McAuliffe, 51, was born and raised in Syracuse, NY, the youngest of four boys. His father was, according to some, a Democratic powerbroker and fundraiser who helped young Terry obtain a similar position with the campaign of Jimmy Carter. McAuliffe took the position after graduating from Catholic University (which he attended on an academic scholarship), traveling to 40 states to raise money for the president. Afterwards, he attended Georgetown Law School, graduating in 1984.

Since then, he has been at the forefront of Democratic fundraising, serving as the finance chair for numerous campaigns and organizations, including the DNC, DCCC, presidential candidate Dick Gephardt, and the Clinton-Gore reelection campaign. During his tenure (2001-2005) as chairman of the DNC, he is credited with raising $578 million, freeing the party from debt for the first time in its history.

Along the way, McAuliffe became a wealthy man himself. He is proud of starting his first business – a driveway maintenance company – at the age of 14, regaling me with the story of how he acquired a truck at age 15 in which to haul the driveway sealant. This entrepreneurial spirit carried over into politics. “‘I’ve met all of my business contacts through politics. It’s all interrelated,” he said in this 1999 interview. And like politics, some of his business deals have carried an aroma that is less than sweet smelling. Through it all, McAuliffe, referred to by some as “The Teflon Kingmaker,” has managed to stay above the fray.

Despite his lifelong involvement in politics, McAuliffe has never held public office. He told me, though, that he always wanted to run. He considers Virginia, where he has lived the last 20 years, to be home. He and his wife, Dorothy, have five children ranging in age from 9 to 17.

There were a couple of things that came out during the course of my interview. First, McAuliffe has done his homework about Virginia. He has big plans should he be elected governor, some of them – like getting rid of the Dillon Rule – near to my heart. His grasp of the issues – from energy to education, from health care to bonding – is admirable. His enthusiasm to make Virginia an even better place to live, work and raise a family is infectious. The businessman in him – he compared himself to Mark Warner – recognizes the challenges that lay ahead in these tough economic times and he has some ideas to ease them.

Of course, the governor of Virginia has to get things through the legislature, the workings of which both Brian Moran and Creigh Deeds have experience. McAuliffe believes that he can convince the legislature to go along with his plans, helped by the Democratic majority in the House and Senate, which he will help to achieve.

Which brings me to the second thing that emerged from our discussion as well as from my observance of him at the VBDC Holiday Party and Legislative Sendoff: McAuliffe seems to believe that everything can be solved by money.  His mention of money in nearly every context is off-putting. He has said that if he is the party nominee, he will raise money for the downticket races, and help Democrats gain the majority in the House. I guess he expects the Democrats in the legislature to reward this largesse by approving his plans for public-private partnerships, for incentives to lure companies to Virginia, for changing the bonding process. Early in our conversation he mentioned that he had more money than he could ever spend, and certainly demonstrated this when he announced a $5,000 contribution to John LaCombe, the candidate in the 81st.

Don’t get me wrong – money isn’t a bad thing. But it just came across as ostentatious  and quite un-Virginian, not to mention that it sounds like he’s trying to buy his way into the governor’s mansion. Of course, he is not necessarily talking about spending his own money (this article indicates that he plans to raise $10 million by the end of the month), as this article mentions. (To his credit, when asked about this, McAuliffe offered a reasonable explanation for his lack of contributions during the time he was DNC chair: that if he did them, he would have been beseiged by candidates all over the country. Of course, that doesn’t explain 2007.)

Terry McAuliffe brings a different perspective to Virginia politics, one not weighted down by the quid pro quo relationships we have become accustomed to. (I actually threw out a name or two and he wasn’t familiar with them. That’s a good thing.) And, to be sure, we can count on never a dull moment if he is the nominee. Although I have already made my choice, I look forward to seeing this campaign unfold.

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By the way, anyone who thinks McAuliffe is not in this race is delusional. First, Virginia doesn’t have “exploratory committees.” And second, it is just not in McAuliffe’s nature to do things halfway. He’s in – and he’s in to win.

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UPDATE: The Huffington Post has updated their story (linked above) referencing the $10 millon. Apparently, the source was not with the McAuliffe campaign team.