RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Strictly by the numbers, Hillary Clinton doesn’t have to win Virginia’s Democratic primary in order to be the party’s nominee for president. But don’t tell Gov. Terry McAuliffe that the Old Dominion isn’t a ’must’ win.
“Well, it is for me,” McAuliffe said at a recent Clinton campaign event in Richmond.
Of all the governors in states voting on Super Tuesday, none is more personally invested in the outcome than McAuliffe.
A longtime friend, fundraiser and confidante of Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, McAuliffe is setting the bar high for a decisive Clinton victory in the March 1 primary.
“We’re going to shock the world,” McAuliffe told Clinton supporters at new campaign office in Richmond.
Pundits expect Clinton to do well in Virginia, a moderate swing-state with a diverse Democratic electorate, against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
But McAuliffe isn’t taking chances. He’s encouraged Democratic fundraisers to support her, hosted her at rallies, and has his top aides helping her Virginia campaign.
McAuliffe’s successful 2013 campaign was almost a dry run for Clinton in Virginia. Her campaign manager, Robby Mook, field tested a data-intensive approach the Clinton campaign has employed when he ran McAuliffe’s 2013 campaign.
Key to a Clinton victory is a strong showing among African-American voters, and her campaign and McAuliffe have worked to line up support from black voters and elected officials. Earlier this month, McAuliffe was one of three Clinton campaign surrogates who went to black churches to promote her candidacy.
State Sen. Mamie Locke, chairwoman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, said Clinton is helped by the fond memories African-Americans have for her husband - and by McAuliffe’s work on voting rights and other issues important to the black community.
But the Sanders campaign and its supporters feel that Virginia is still up for grabs.
Michael Futrell, an African-American Sanders supporter and former House delegate, said Sanders’ positions on economic equality and criminal justice reform appeal to black voters.
He also dismissed the Clinton campaign’s use of using top elected officials like McAuliffe or black lawmakers as surrogates. Besides McAuliffe, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, also have been stumping for Clinton.
“While she’s going very top down, we’re doing this from the bottom up,” Futrell said.
Then-U.S. Sen Barack Obama soundly defeated Clinton in the 2008 Virginia Democratic primary with help from overwhelming African-American support.
Former Gov. Doug Wilder, the first African-American elected to be governor in the United States, said he’s skeptical that Clinton has gained a similar level of enthusiasm from black voters in Virginia.
“I don’t know that it’s strong at this point,” said Wilder, who has not endorsed either Democratic candidate.
Still, Wilder said he expects Clinton to win, though he said McAuliffe shouldn’t sweat the exact margin.
“If I were he, I would consider a win a win,” Wilder said.
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