Terry McAuliffe on the Democratic Party in 2009
Terry McAuliffe has been helping democrats get elected for decades. He formerly served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee and ran for Governor of Virginia earlier this year. He is a visiting fellow at the Institute of Politics and recently sat down with the Harvard Political Review.
Harvard Political Review: You ran for governor in Virginia this year. What was it like to have your name on the ballot after so many years behind the scenes?
Terry McAuliffe: Honestly, there really for me wasn’t much difference. When you’re chairman of the party and you don’t have the White House you’re sort of the chief spokesperson for the party, going after the president. So I wasn’t too much behind the scenes. I was pretty visible out there. … The best difference is it’s my campaign and I did what I wanted to do. I didn’t have to rely on anyone else. I said “These are the important issues that I want to raise.” And I pretty much did what I wanted. I raised some big issues on green energy. I’m the first candidate to ever tell Dominion Power that I wouldn’t take their contribution. … Probably the hardest difference would be fundraising. I’m pretty good at fundraising, pretty good at asking for money, but it’s a little different when you’re asking for money for yourself.
HPR: If you ran again, what would you do differently? Would you do it again?
TM: Sure I would! I’d have to look at the circumstances. In an open primary, it’s a free shot for Republicans to come and vote against me. I don’t mind people voting against me in a general election, but I don’t like people coming into a Democratic primary and voting. I’m not a big fan of open primaries. I mean, why would you let the other party come in and help determine the nominee of the party they’re going to run against? But, look, I’ve always loved politics. I loved running and had always wanted to run. I always keep all my options open. You never know what could happen in life.
HPR: Looking at the Democratic Party on a national level, are you optimistic about the future?
TM: Oh, very optimistic. I give President Obama a lot of credit. We all knew he was going to tackle these very rough issues. Health care was going to be hard. I lived through the 90’s with the Clintons. It’s a tough issue. There’s a lot of money involved. Insurance companies are making a lot of money and when there’s a lot of money involved the special interests are really going to get jacked up. And they’re fired up on this one! But I think Republicans are going to have a hard time now if you look at Electoral College maps. We picked up the coasts. We got Virginia, Indiana, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada. We won Florida. We won North Carolina. I think if you look at the population growth for the Hispanic community, the Pacific Islander community, the African American community — those are core constituencies of population growth who vote now overwhelmingly democratic. The Republicans are going to have a very hard time now. They’re going to have to reach out somehow to these growth communities or they’re going to find themselves in a very difficult position.
HPR: What do you expect to see happen in the 2010 mid-term elections? Will Democrats lose seats?
TM: I think in 2010 we’re going to see what is normal to see at the mid-term of a president’s first term — losing somewhere between 16 to 24 seats. In the Senate we’ve got 60 seats. Could we lose two or three seats? Definitely. We’ve got some tough races. Senator Dodd’s got a tough race. Arkansas is now a top race. The Republicans have retirements so we’ve got some opportunities. But all in all, I think President Obama has been doing exactly what he said he would do and Republicans are not offering alternatives, they’re just firing at him.
HPR: So you’ve been impressed with President Obama’s political performance so far?
TM: I have. I mean he came in, he did stem cells, and he addressed the Iraq issue. In two hundred days, it’s been all about the economy. Now, I’m not a big fan of bailouts, but we had to get some money injected into the system; we were on the verge of going off a cliff.
HPR: What do you think will be President Obama’s major vulnerabilities going into the 2012 elections?
TM: I think what we need to do is get health care done. Financial services regulation needs to get done. We have a 60 seat majority in the Senate, and we have a big majority in the House, so I’m a believer in, if we we’re going to do things, let’s do them right. If we do these things right, it’s better for businesses, it’s better for the economy. I don’t ever go to bed worried about my children having a catastrophic illness. But for most Americans, they do. At a minimum, we have to cover catastrophic illnesses for all Americans. So I’m big on a public option, but you don’t always get what you want. But I promise you, there is going to be health care legislation this year.
HPR: The youth vote has been such a tremendous force for the Democratic Party. How can you keep them engaged?
TM: It’s interesting when I talk to young people, and I ask them if they’re active, the general theme is “Well, not really. We won! We’re done now.” And I ask, what do you mean we’re done? Now the hard part starts! We really need to keep young people energized. Some are dispirited today because of the economy. A lot of the students I’ve met are worried about their prospects in the workforce, and they want to see results. I think in 2012 they’ll stay engaged. But the real challenge will be next year. Because if you look historically at the youth vote and the elderly vote, the proportion of the elderly represented in midterms goes way up. And those elections will really impact Obama’s ability to move his proposals forward. We’ve got our work cut out for us. The attitude for a lot of folks is “Yeah! It was a great ’08! We won, I can relax.” Forget it! We’re just starting!
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