Ads to hit Terry McAuliffe on abortion, business

Date: 

Tuesday, September 24, 2013
By JAMES HOHMANN | 9/23/13 5:03 AM EDT

A conservative super PAC, Virginia Principles Fund, will go on the air Monday with a $300,000 TV buy to attack Terry McAuliffe’s support for abortion rights and to criticize his business record.

Sarah Huckabee, who runs the organization, said the group’s research shows the Democrat’s position on abortion is “one of his greatest vulnerabilities in this race.” McAuliffe is running for governor of Virginia against Republican Ken Cuccinelli.

The anti-abortion ad, shared early with POLITICO, will run in the Norfolk and Roanoke media markets with roughly 1,000 gross rating points in each.

“The gift of life: innocent, beautiful, a miracle from God and our responsibility to protect,” a female narrator says softly as a young girl lays her head on a pregnant mother’s tummy and another mother softly kisses a newborn’s forehead. ”Terry McAuliffe supports abortion on demand at any time for any reason — paid for by Virginia taxpayers!”

A second spot hitting McAuliffe’s ties to bankrupt telecommunications company Global Crossing will run in the Richmond market.

“Virginians are hurting: not enough good-paying jobs, working two or more jobs to pay the bill,” the narrator says in that ad. “Terry McAuliffe talks about what he’ll do to help, but what has he done? Terry McAuliffe got rich off a company that went bankrupt and laid off 10,000 workers. Ten thousand workers lost their jobs, their health care, their livelihood while McAuliffe made millions.”

The tagline of both spots is, “Terry McAuliffe: Not our values, wrong for Virginia.”

The McAuliffe campaign has focused much of its advertising — especially in Northern Virginia — on Cuccinelli’s views on social issues, and abortion-rights groups are also plotting heavy flights of ads ahead of November’s election.

“Considering that Ken Cuccinelli wants to make abortion illegal even in cases of rape and incest, has tried to outlaw common forms of birth control like the pill and even said his ultimate goal is to make abortion disappear in America, it’s no surprise that his extreme friends would try to come in and rescue him by launching false and misleading attacks,” said McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwerin.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/ads-to-hit-terry-mcauliffe-on-abortion-business-97192.html#ixzz2fqPSzVVz