Did you know that Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe offered an overt bribe to a Democrat he wanted to remain on
Excerpted from Laura Vozzella\’s article in the (McAuliffe-supporting – at least until now) Washington Post:
VirginiaGov. Terry McAuliffe\’s chief of staff left a voice-mail message fora Democrat who was on the verge of quitting the General Assembly inJune, saying that the senator\’s daughter might get a top state jobif he stayed to support the governor\’s push to expand Medicaid,according to descriptions from three people who heard the recording.
Thegovernor\’s spokesman initially denied Thursday that (Chief of Staff Paul) Reagan had madeany potential job offers, but he later acknowledged that the call hadbeen made after he was read atranscript of Reagan\’s message given to The Washington Post.
Do your remember the supposed “Bridgegate” scandal – in which New Jersey Governor Chris Christie supposedly had his people close a few lanes of the George Washington Bridge for several days as a vindictive little piece of political payback? (I\’m sure you do, because with that much media coverage how could you miss it?)
Do you remember how media obsessed over this every day for over a month – we\’re talking lead story on every network and every major newspaper – even though Christie denied involvement and immediately fired the people he believed to be directly involved? (I\’m sure you do, because with that much media coverage how could you miss it?)
Do you remember that, after scouring every nook and cranny to find evidence that Christie was involved, a federal investigation announced there wasn\’t any? (I\’m not sure that you do, because – unlike the charges against Christie – his exoneration went virtually unreported.)
Well, here is Terry McAuliffe, the Governor of Virginia, through his top aide, not playing some political gotcha-game, but offering a bribe to State Senator Puckett: stick around and vote on our legislation and maybe we find your daughter a big job.
And here is the McAuliffe people lying to our faces about the offer – then having to admit the truth when presented with an actual transcript.
(To Puckett\’s credit, he resigned anyway – amid Democrat accusations that Republicans offered goodies to both him and his daughter to do so…with no evidence to back those accusations up, or I assure you the Post would have mentioned them.)
Would you like to compare this to “Bridgegate”? Would you say it just might be a bit more egregious?
And do you think for one second that a bribe like this could possibly have been made without Governor McAuliffe\’s imprimatur?
Even if you con yourself into believing McAuliffe\’s prints are not all over this – which would mean Chief of Staff Paul Reagan was personally responsible – why did McAuliffe not immediately fire Reagan? Why is he still there today?
Do you have any doubt that – Washington Post aside – most mainstream media will be giving this Terry McAuliffe scandal either perfunctory coverage or a free pass altogether?
One last question: When media are deciding how to handle a scandal (the rhyme is intentional), how great is it to have a “D” after your name instead of an “R”?
