Clinton urges Va. party to stay united

Former President Bill Clinton congratulated Virginia Democrats on Saturday night following a historic year of elections but urged them to stay united with a hotly contested governor’s race on the horizon.

“You’ve got to win this election. You should urge this primary to be vigorous,” Mr. Clinton told about 3,000 attendees at the Democratic Party of Virginia’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. “But you should remember how long we have worked for this moment. Stay together; work together; prove to the American people they made the right decision.”

Mr. Clinton was the featured speaker at the top-dollar fundraising dinner, which offered Virginia Democrats a chance to celebrate the party’s recent electoral dominance while preparing for a high-stakes governor’s race already garnering national attention.

The November elections saw Barack Obama become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since 1964, former Gov. Mark R. Warner win the state’s open U.S. Senate seat and Democrats reverse the Republican majority in the state’s U.S. House delegation.

But the party also faces a potentially bruising primary for its gubernatorial nomination with three candidates — state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe and former state Delegate Brian J. Moran — vying for the chance to battle Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell for the Executive Mansion.

Mr. Clinton, who twice lost presidential elections in Virginia, noted the state’s decades-long penchant for electing a governor of the opposite party than the recently elected president, telling the audience: “You’ve got to make just a little more history in 2009.”

But the majority of the former president’s remarks focused on what he said was the need for Democrats to tangibly use their first federal majority in years to fight the country’s problems.

He warned against “phony distinctions and cheap attacks” that become the norm in partisan politics, instead urging Democrats to focus on “how” to solve problems

“We have been given something that we have not had in 40 years — a genuine majority support,” Mr. Clinton said. “But we got it at an exceedingly difficult time.”

All three competitors for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination also were on the speaking circuit for Saturday night’s dinner. The event offered the candidates a key chance to distinguish themselves from one another as momentum builds toward the party’s June 9 primary.

During his time at the pulpit or podium, Mr. McAuliffe, a newcomer to Virginia politics, but no stranger to the national scene — emphasized his common background with Gov. Tim Kaine and Mr. Warner and focused on his promise to create jobs during a dismal economy.

“Virginians aren’t afraid of hard work,” said Mr. McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton confidant and former head of now-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign. “They know that the next few years are going to be tough.

They want a governor who can bring an energetic, fresh, creative approach to solving problems and building a stronger economy — a governor who comes to the job with the right kind of experience to take on some very tough challenges.”

The former party chairman refused to attack Mr. Deeds or Mr. Moran, but went on the offensive against Attorney General Bob McDonnell, the race’s lone Republican. Mr. Deeds, likewise, called Mr. McDonnell “consistently wrong for every working family in Virginia” and emphasized the attorney general’s views on abortion and stem-cell research.

He criticized Mr. McDonnell for standing with a “corporate culture of greed” and stressed the importance of a “strong and vibrant middle class.”

Story Continues →