Virginia run for ‘The Macker’

Democratic victories in Virginia by Barack Obama and Senate candidate Mark Warner apparently convince master fundraiser and former party chairman Terry McAuliffe that the coast is clear for him to run for governor in the Old Dominion in 2009. Known for his mile-a-minute delivery on television, McAuliffe filed paperwork this week for a potential gubernatorial run. As Bill Clinton’s main money man, McAuliffe knew no bounds when it came to pulling in the dough. The Washington Post’s Marc Fisher recalls the time McAuliffe wrestled a 280-pound alligator to land a $15,000 donation from a Florida Indian tribe. “The Macker” will face Democratic primary opponents and the likely Republican nominee, current state Attorney General Bob McDonnell. “Terry McAuliffe doesn’t know Norton from Norfolk,” a McDonnell spokesman told Fisher. “It he runs, remind me to send him a Virginia state map.” Likely to be more pivotal will be the hours and hours of video of McAuliffe’s partisan riffs against Republicans — attack ads that will practically produce themselves.

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