“Yes, THAT Citizens United.”
So begins a new email sent Wednesday to supporters of Terry McAuliffe in the wake of the release of “Fast Terry,” a new film by Citizens United that investigates McAuliffe’s dubious record of waste and fraud as a Virginia businessman.
The email attempts to disparage CU by reminding readers of its role in the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, while dismissing the film’s findings as “nothing more than an infomercial-length attack ad.”
“You probably remember them from their lawsuit against the FEC,” the email reads, “which led to the disastrous Supreme Court decision that ushered in the SuperPAC era of American politics.”
McAuliffe’s campaign makes no attempt to address or refute the conclusions reached in “Fast Terry.” The film, a trailer for which can be seen on YouTube, argues that McAuliffe’s business ventures have failed to deliver on promises of jobs and prosperity for communities in Franklin, Va., and Tunica, Miss., and that McAuliffe-run companies like GreenTech Automotive had actually outsourced labor to China.
Instead, the email pursues a tactic more in line with McAuliffe’s reputation as a voracious fundraiser, a skill honed during his time as national chairman of the Democratic Party and head of multiple Clinton campaigns: it asks for money.
“I won’t sugar coat this: with Citizens United coming at me, I need your help now more than ever,” the McAuliffe campaign writes. “Our July fundraising deadline is at midnight tonight and we’re still $14,545 short. Will you pitch in $5 right now so that we don’t have to let their absurd attacks go unanswered?”
McAuliffe also attacked CU for playing “a key role in creating the system that enabled special interest billionaires to spend their vast wealth to try and buy last year’s elections.” McAuliffe himself is much more wealthy than Republican opponent Ken Cuccinelli, and that his campaign war chest more than doubles Cuccinelli’s.