Can Moran Prevail Against McAuliffes Cash?
In the Moran clan, the gospel teaches that politics is about relationships. For 12 years in the state capital, on endless trips across Virginia as leader of the Democratic caucus, Brian Moran built and nursed bonds with sheriffs and mayors and business owners, all leading to this moment, to his drive to succeed Mark Warner and Tim Kaine as the state’s third consecutive Democratic governor. Even if Republicans chuckled at the notion of a liberal from Northern Virginia winning statewide, Moran was ready. He positioned himself as the biggest environmentalist in the race, opposing a coal-fired power plant in southern Virginia, proposing wind and solar power mandates. He balanced that with stands for gun rights and the death penalty that, as he says with a big smile, “make some of my supporters cringe.” Then came Terry McAuliffe, former boss of the Democratic National Committee, the party’s fundraiser-in-chief, who backed Hillary Clinton for president and, when that didn’t work out, decided
