Ron Paul endorsed Ken Cuccinelli for Virginia governor Friday night, boosting the Republican’s push to woo voters who have bled to a third-party candidate.
Libertarian Robert Sarvis could be a spoiler in next month’s off-year election, attracting what should be Republican voters concerned about the nominee’s strong opposition to gay marriage and abortion.
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The former Texas congressman, who retains a large following among libertarians after his presidential bid last year, does not mention Sarvis in his two-page letter of support for Cuccinelli.
Instead, he praises Cuccinelli as someone who will be “willing to stand up to the politicians of both parties in Washington.”
“Ken Cuccinelli has always stood for smaller government and limited government,” writes Paul. “He has consistently and unapologetically worked with the Liberty movement in Virginia. His stand against ObamaCare shows he is willing to stand up to Washington’s continued abuses on our individual liberties.”
He quotes his friend Donna Holt, a libertarian activist, calling Cuccinelli “the most pro-liberty legislator and Attorney General we have ever had in Virginia.”
A POLITICO poll this week found Sarvis getting 12 percent among likely voters, with Democrat Terry McAuliffe leading Cuccinelli by 9 points.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has already offered support for Cuccinelli and appeared at a fundraiser for him in Nashville.
Cuccinelli pronounced himself “thrilled” by the “great news.”
“A true warrior in defense of our liberty and first principles,” he wrote in a letter to his grass-roots list. “Thank you, Ron, for all you have done for our country.”
Sarvis downplayed the Kentucky senator’s support for his opponent in a recent interview, and his chief strategist downplayed the Ron Paul news.
“The Sarvis campaign is proud to have the endorsement of [former New Mexico] Gov. Gary Johnson whose ‘socially tolerant, fiscally responsible’ presidential campaign theme complements Robert Sarvis’s Libertarian vision for a Virginia that’s both ‘Open-minded and Open for Business,’” emailed J.V. LaBeaume.
Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s 2012 nominee for president, plans a trip to Virginia later this month to help Sarvis.
(Also on POLITICO: Ken Cuccinelli ad: Terry McAuliffe ‘despicable’)
Sarvis learned Thursday night that he will not be invited to the third and final gubernatorial debate at Virginia Tech on Oct. 24. Organizers said he is just under their 10 percent threshold in aggregated polling to participate.
McAuliffe, meanwhile, won the support Thursday of former Democratic Gov. Doug Wilder, who has sometimes been critical of the Democratic nominee and who stayed neutral in the 2009 governor’s race.
...And I don't want no pardon
For what I was and am,
I won't be reconstructed
And I don't care a damn.
I am mystified as to why the VA republican party didn't see the challenge by Sarvis as a real threat and court him for the Lt. Governor spot on the ticket. I realize Sarvis has bigger plans, but this would have likely gotten him more recognition, and also would have gotten him closer to the Governors mansion.
Progressives/Liberals - Promoting tyranny and a defenseless people since 1913.
Swampman wrote:I am mystified as to why the VA republican party didn't see the challenge by Sarvis as a real threat and court him for the Lt. Governor spot on the ticket. I realize Sarvis has bigger plans, but this would have likely gotten him more recognition, and also would have gotten him closer to the Governors mansion.
YES. I was wondering the same thing. It would also get Sarvis relevant executive experience that he currently lacks.
Swampman wrote:I am mystified as to why the VA republican party didn't see the challenge by Sarvis as a real threat and court him for the Lt. Governor spot on the ticket. I realize Sarvis has bigger plans, but this would have likely gotten him more recognition, and also would have gotten him closer to the Governors mansion.
That involves logic and foresight. The GOP generally has a problem with those two concepts.
Swampman wrote:I am mystified as to why the VA republican party didn't see the challenge by Sarvis as a real threat and court him for the Lt. Governor spot on the ticket. I realize Sarvis has bigger plans, but this would have likely gotten him more recognition, and also would have gotten him closer to the Governors mansion.
That involves logic and foresight. The GOP generally has a problem with those two concepts.
Ya think?
Progressives/Liberals - Promoting tyranny and a defenseless people since 1913.
Can't believe you folks are jaw jacking the loss of Virginia to the progressives.
Some people never learn.
Ron knows the deal. You won't even listen to your hallowed libertarian leader.
You're voicing the progressive game plan for enslaving the entire country.
There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'
-C. S. Lewis
Swampman wrote:I am mystified as to why the VA republican party didn't see the challenge by Sarvis as a real threat and court him for the Lt. Governor spot on the ticket. I realize Sarvis has bigger plans, but this would have likely gotten him more recognition, and also would have gotten him closer to the Governors mansion.
Sarvis ran for State Senate as a Republican 2 years ago and lost. Very rarely is it a good idea for a person to run for a higher office after losing a race for a lower office. But, if he wanted to run for LG he could have done so. 7 candidates ran for the GOP LG nomination and EW Jackson beat them all at the State Convention pretty handily. Sarvis could have made it 8 candidates, but he would have needed to get 5000 supporters to spend a day in Richmond to support him in order to win which is no small feat.
