Bob McDonnell continues to attempt to sound like a moderate, hoping that Virginians will buy his new persona, but he will have a hard time selling it when he has fund-raising politicians such as Haley Barbour, Mississippi Governor and former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, by his side.
Barbour is known as a right-winger, and he has even raised questions among the few
moderate Republicans still in the party by, among other things, having his picture appear on the website of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a group that espouses racists views and had extremely racist comments prominently placed below his picture, when he first ran for governor.
Although he will not confirm it, Barbour is thought to be making a bid for the Republican candidacy for president in 2012, and he is fundraising for fellow Republicans now in order to call in favors later on. And, it seems he has raised money today for McDonnell (at least a quarter million dollars) at three stops around Virginia. In addition, he is vice chair of the Republican Governors Association that has already given McDonnell about $2 million for this election.
The Virginian-Pilot online service reported this response from a Deeds campaign spokesman about the Barbour visits today:
| |
"For a candidate running to be a moderate, Bob McDonnell doesn't seem to have any problem praising the cheerleaders for the old-style Republican policies of the likes of George Bush and Jim Gilmore [.]"
|