Looks like the NRA is going to try and buy another election:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...



“Terry McAuliffe has come out and basically stated his support for every gun control scheme imaginable,” said Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the nation's top gun lobby. “And if Terry has his way, the burden of law in Virginia will be on law-abiding gun owners and not on criminals. That’s a wrong-headed approach. Virginia needs leaders who are going to be tough on crime and tough on criminals.” - TPM, 9/27/13

Though gun control hasn't been a big issue in this race, McAuliffe has stated his support for background checks:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...



“The NRA is now rewarding Ken Cuccinelli for his extreme refusal to support universal background checks — a mainstream policy that 91 percent of Americans support is yet again an issue where he finds himself way out of the mainstream,” adding that Cuccinelli had shown “career-long opposition to commonsense measures that would keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.” Gun rights supporters have long outnumbered foes in Richmond, but there have been signs in recent years, as Virginia has grown more purple, that the issue has lost some of its potency. Last year, Timothy M. Kaine (D) beat George Allen (R) in a high-profile Senate race despite Kaine’s “F” grade from the NRA and Allen’s “A.” Though McAuliffe and Cuccinelli have stark differences on gun issues, there has been relatively little public squabbling over the topic, as the race — and the thousands of ads that have crowded the airwaves — have focused instead on the economy, energy, abortion and a host of other policy areas. But the two hopefuls did take on guns at length during Wednesday night’s debate in McLean, when they were asked for their views in the wake of the Sept. 16 Navy Yard shooting rampage. McAuliffe said he was for “responsible gun ownership.” “I have called for universal background checks,” McAuliffe said. “My opponent doesn’t support that. I’m a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. I’m a hunter. I own guns. ... There are certain individuals who just should not own a gun. There are individuals that have mental illness. I think this is such a critical issue for us. ... As governor, I’m gonna push. Most importantly, we need universal background checks for everyone.” - Washington Post. 9/27/13

The NRA used it's fear tactics in Colorado and they're going to try to scare voters into supporting Cuccinelli. Cuccinelli desperately needs all the help he can get because he thinks he's running in a more conservative Virginia:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/...



Diversity, meanwhile, has skyrocketed. The state Hispanic population nearly doubled over the period, and there was a 63 percent increase in mixed-race residents. The politics have evolved as you would expect, culminating in President Obama's landmark 2008 and 2012 victories in Virginia, powered by the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William. It was always hard to see how Cuccinelli would hold his own among the suburban liberals and moderates in the region, particularly women, given his lawsuits against the Affordable Care Act and a climate scientist at the University of Virginia; his attempts to make divorce more difficult; and his opposition to gay rights, abortion rights, immigration reform, the new health law's Medicaid expansion, and a bipartisan plan to ease the terrible traffic that threatens to cramp growth in Northern Virginia. Cuccinelli and McAuliffe have gone after each other ferociously on integrity, trust, and character issues, and the media have not spared either of them on their ethics or records (Cuccinelli as hard-right culture warrior, McAuliffe as a businessman who tapped connections and government programs to reap big profits for himself). So far, McAuliffe's shortcomings have not sent moderates and independents fleeing to Cuccinelli. McAuliffe's pollster, Geoffrey Garin, says Cuccinelli is "losing white moderates overwhelmingly" because he has "deliberately vacated any claim to the center." - National Journal, 9/25/13

Not to mention his party's threat to shutdown the government hasn't been helping him either:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...



Cuccinelli became a conservative hero by challenging the health-care law, and he needs those ardent allies to carry him to victory in an uphill, off-year election against Democrat Terry McAuliffe. “I think Ken Cuccinelli’s fortunes rise and fall on the backbone of House Republicans,” said Ronald Wilcox, an organizer with the Northern Virginia Tea Party. But the showdown also means that Cuccinelli could alienate more middle-of-the-road voters — the folks who might not like Obamacare but dislike government dysfunction even more. That’s especially true in the Northern Virginia suburbs. “This is not tea party country, for the most part,” former congressman Tom Davis (R-Va.) said Thursday. “To the extent that the tea party is viewed as part of the problem up here, it’s not going to help the Republican candidate.” - Washington Post, 9/26/13

Not to mention Cuccinelli's been trying to rewrite his radical right-wing past:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...



In the past, Mr. Cuccinelli has trumpeted most of those stances on the Web sites he maintained as a state senator, as a candidate for attorney general and as attorney general. Now, his allies insist that immigration is hardly a state issue at all — despite the copious legislation that Mr. Cuccinelli and other conservatives sponsored and voted for — and that critics are unfairly maligning him on the issue. Immigration is one of a number of subjects where Mr. Cuccinelli has made ample use of editing to play down his record as a crusading social conservative — an effort he continued Wednesday in a debate with Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. As attorney general, he tormented homosexuals, whom he once scorned as inviting “nothing but self-destruction, not only physically but of their soul.” He tried energetically to preserve a law banning oral and anal sex, a measure long regarded as targeting homosexuals. Yet as a candidate for governor, he has cast his defense of Virginia’s anti-sodomy law as an effort to shield children from predators. That’s a stretch. And in Wednesday’s debate, he said the suggestion that he had called gays “soulless” was “offensively false.” He has muted his longtime position doubting the science on climate change. On guns, although he has been a a steadfast advocate for expanding permission to carry concealed weapons (for example, on the campus of the University of Virginia), he now says he understands that “many people have reasonable concerns about the misuse of firearms.” He sponsored a state constitutional amendment granting protection to the “preborn” from “the moment of fertilization,” which would have opened the way to challenges to common methods of birth control, including the pill and intrauterine devices. Now Mr. Cuccinelli insists he intended no such outcome. - Washington Post, 9/26/13

Not to mention Cuccinelli's anti-gay and anti-woman agenda will cost him big:

http://www.advocate.com/...



McAuliffe noted that he and his wife formally came out for marriage equality after the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy in 2011. "The idea we could send men and women across the globe to fight for us and then they come back and they don’t have the same equal opportunities and equal rights I just think was plain wrong,” said the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, according to the Blade. McAuliffe's Republican challenger, current Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, reiterated his opposition to marriage equality at the debate, which was moderated by MSNBC's Chuck Todd and took place at the Capital One Conference Center. Cuccinelli has also made a reputation for himself by targeting Planned Parenthood and defunding women's health clinics that provide abortion services in Virginia. ThinkProgress has an excellent summary of Cuccinelli's far-right politics throughout his four years as attorney general and nearly eight years prior as a state senator. That radical agenda was the focus of one of McAuliffe's most biting criticisms of his opponent at Wednesday's debate. "There are consequences to this mean-spirited attack on women’s health, on gay Virginians," McAuliffe said. "If we’re going to build a new economy in Virginia, we’re going to do it by bringing everyone together." - The Advocate, 9/26/13

With Cuccinelli's social conservative agenda hurting him in the polls, he's then decided to try and make Obamacare an issue:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...



With portions of the Affordable Care Act set to kick in next week, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s campaign for Virginia governor is airing its first ad explicitly aimed at the health-reform measure. The ad, titled “Obamacare,” focuses on Cuccinelli’s (R) long-standing opposition to President Obama’s signature legislation while blaming foe Terry McAuliffe (D) for the measure’s perceived faults. “March 23, 2010: Obamacare is signed into law,” the ad’s announcer says. “Minutes later, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli files suit in federal court to stop it. Terry McAuliffe supported ObamaCare, costing middle class families thousands, killing Virginia jobs, limiting access to our doctors. “And to pay for it, Terry McAuliffe would break Virginia’s budget. Terry McAuliffe: A deeply unserious candidate.” Cuccinelli has long touted his battle against the health-care law in court, spending much of his book “The Last Line of Defense” describing the fight. (Cuccinelli’s lawsuit was dismissed by a federal appeals court, while a separate challenge filed by other GOP attorneys general reached the Supreme Court.) But the issue has not been a focus of his message on the airwaves until now, with health exchanges due to open for enrollment Oct. 1. - Washington Post, 9/26/13

Cuccinelli's extremist views have also cost him a major endorsement:

http://www.bizjournals.com/...



NOVABizPAC, the chamber’s political arm, selected McAuliffe over Republican Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia's attorney general. The endorsement comes less than 24 hours after the two leading gubernatorial candidates went head to head in a chamber-sponsored debate. “In terms of the priorities of the Northern Virginia business community, Mr. McAuliffe’s policy positions and proposals closely align with the Fairfax Chamber’s legislative agenda,” Jim Corcoran, Fairfax Chamber president and NOVABizPAC trustee, said in a statement. “Mr. McAuliffe was a major supporter of Gov. McDonnell’s landmark transportation funding legislation and a consistent supporter of rail to Dulles. He has also vocalized his opposition to mandatory project labor agreements and he has vowed to veto any attempt to chip away at Virginia’s longstanding right to work laws.” The Fairfax chamber historically trends conservative. Its endorsement plays into the McAuliffe refrain that he is the best candidate to work with both parties. - Washington Business Journal, 9/26/13

Cuccinelli needs all the help he can get and we can't risk the NRA buying this election just like they did with the Colorado recalls. Please do donate and get involved with McAuliffe's campaign so we can defeat Cuccinelli and the NRA in November: