From the irascible Joe Romm at Climate Progress:
But how did this happen? Follow the money. The Daily Caller has this story:
Big ‘green’ dollars propel McAuliffe to victory
Environmental activists poured millions of dollars into the Virginia gubernatorial campaign to help propel Democrat Terry McAuliffe to victory over Republican opponent Ken Cuccinelli.
Environmental groups put up $3.8 million to help McAuliffe defeat Cuccinelli, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. That’s about four times as much as fossil fuel interests gave Cuccinelli.
Energy and environmental concerns became a major focus during the campaign, as McAuliffe planned to jump-start Virginia’s renewable energy production and bring green jobs into the state.
Of course, we all know about ‘green’ jobs. They tend to be subsidized, transient, and only available to a select group of people.
Green groups also spent millions on TV ad buys during the campaign. NextGen Climate Action, which was founded by San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer, spent more than $2.4 million — the most spent on TV buys by any group.
…
The League of Conservation Voters was able to mobilize volunteers to knock on 100,000 doors in the Richmond area and 300,000 across the state, reports the Hill.
Environmentalists were successful at making global warming a central issue in the campaign, having former University of Virginia climate scientist and global warming activist Michael Mann stump for McAuliffe.
The stigma of political stink will always be over Michael Mann now, as he has transformed himself from scientist to political activist, much like Dr. James Hansen (formerly of NASA GISS) has.
If big environmental outfits can so easily spend millions buying an out-of-state candidate like Terry McAuliffe, then how hard is it to buy a climate scientist or two?
Is team climate science now the best science money can buy?
Those “secret” UVa emails Mann has been viciously defending might give some clues. More later.
@Peter Miller
Who is the extremist, the people who want government to borrow 40% of every dollar spent, the people who want government to say what health insurance you can or cannot buy or the people who want government to live within its means, want government obey the laws and want people to be able to keep their health insurance if they like it?
Who is extreme, the chief executive who compares his domestic political opposition to criminals and terrorists or the people who want to sit down and negotiate? Who is the extremist, the person who repeatedly lies or the ones who are pointing out the truth?
If you’re trying to say the public perception is the Tea Party is extremist, then I must unfortunately agree.
The $3.8 million, while significant, was a drop in the bucket. McAwful outspent Cuccinelli by a total of $15 million.
milodonharlani says:
November 7, 2013 at 10:56 am
Doesn’t look like Peter is going to respond to your cogent questions, Milo!
Thanks for trying, though. You are a man of my own heart and mind. Your analyses posted above are very similar to my own conclusions on the VA Governor’s and Lt. Governor’s races.
MtK
Mac the Knife says:
November 7, 2013 at 1:12 pm
We can only hope that Obamacare will inoculate another generation against socialism, whether creeping or rampant.
Now that carpool is over the rest of the story. Federal revenue sharing with the states is now tied to pushing the Green Growth/Low Carbon vision in the state’s economic devt policies. In addition, what used to be education is increasingly centered in the Governors’ offices as Workforce Devt. So Governors of both parties are giddily eyeing the prospect of combining Workforce Devt (favors for Big Business) and Eco Devt (favors for Big Business) with the taxpayers getting the bill or more public debt.
And again if I know this from the documents, McAuliffe’s Green Vendors would know it from conferences and lobbyists and breakfasts we were not invited to. A lot of this is being pushed by the Brookings’ Institute as part of its Metropolitanism initiative.
Sheesh!
It is not about who was right or wrong about the benefits or otherwise of the Obamacare program, it is about the tactics used to oppose it.
As I said before, playing chicken with the world economy, is something which has hugely harmed the US in the eyes of the rest of the world and helped – stress the word ‘helped’ – those favouring climate alarmism into positions of political power.
The bottom line is if you want to help those like Mann and his ilk to increase their influence, then by all means support the views of those who want to play poker with the world economy.
Democracy is all about being the least worst form of government and unfortunately all too often the buffoons get elected to positions well above their levels of competence .
Merrick: “More than half the voters in Virginia are against Obamacare. Again, if Sarvis weren’t in the race, where would his “against Obamacare” votes have gone?”
This is not responsive to my question. By your own statement Sarvis wasn’t any sort of Libertarian as he supported DNC favored things. So either Sarvis sapped votes of the DNC. Or supporting DNC favored things is what Republicans do. Which is it?
@Jquip – Sorry, while Sarvis was a put up by the democrats, he recited the lines of a libertarian well. He did not promote the democrat points, as that would have been counterproductive to his purpose.
Peter Miller says:
November 7, 2013 at 2:04 pm
Sheesh!
It is not about who was right or wrong about the benefits or otherwise of the Obamacare program, it is about the tactics used to oppose it.
As I said before, playing chicken with the world economy, is something which has hugely harmed the US in the eyes of the rest of the world and helped – stress the word ‘helped’ – those favouring climate alarmism into positions of political power.
The bottom line is if you want to help those like Mann and his ilk to increase their influence, then by all means support the views of those who want to play poker with the world economy.
Democracy is all about being the least worst form of government and unfortunately all too often the buffoons get elected to positions well above their levels of competence .
—————————-
Obama & his staff were certainly elevated to positions well above their levels of competence.
You are committing the logical fallacy of begging the question by assuming that the government shut down in any way played chicken with the world economy. It didn’t. What is a threat is the US running over a trillion deficit every single year that Obama has been in office.
Perhaps you’re unaware that almost every year during the Reagan Administration there was a government shut down while Democrats in Congress negotiated with the executive branch over the budget, which was always declared dead on arrival by House Speaker Tip O’Neil. Did those shutdowns threaten the world economy, then even more dependent on the USA & during the Cold War?
However you may think the world views the shutdown through the filter of Leftwing media, the fact is that it never threatened the global economy & was undertaken on the GOP side in an attempt to rescue the economies of the country & world from the ruinous effects of Neo-Keynesianism.
[+emphasis}
Good post; agree with every word except your word borrow.
When referring to government funding I think something like, say, confiscation might be more fitting..
The Federal Government has been borrowing from Social Security almost since its inception with no intention of ever paying back the funds.
Jquip says:
November 7, 2013 at 2:13 pm
Sarvis gave pro-abortion Republicans & Independents who couldn’t stomach McAwful a candidate to vote for. The polling clearly shows that the majority of Sarvis’ support came from moderates who otherwise would have backed a Republican. No one can know how many Sarvis voters might simply not have voted, but had they done so, there can be little doubt that most of them would have gone with the GOP nominee.
A map of Va voting results. http://www.politico.com/2013-election/results/map/#/Governor/2013/VA
Much of Virginia’s population (outside of DC area) would probably like to dump what is referred to as Northern Va in much the same way as most of New York state would probably like to drop New York city and the surrounding area. The demographics in both locations are so different they should no longer be in the same pot. Time to redraw the maps?
If McAuliffe had so much green money and so many liberal/environmental supporters, what happened to the double-digit lead he had in the polls? The one that collapsed into a paltry 2 point win with a fake libertarian candidate taking 5 points away? Sounds to me someone is trying to take fake responsibility for a win they almost turned into a major upset.
Rats = I can see Russia from my house. Both lies, created by liberals and expanded by the press.
Liberals peed in the river, then bragged about the flood.
Max Hugoson says:
November 7, 2013 at 10:33 am
I think the Libertarian (Losertarian!) idiot was the USEFUL IDIOT in this case.
Right, if Robert Sarvis would have retreated from the election process Cuccinelli would have won.
http://stevengoddard.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/screenhunter_43-nov-06-05-57.jpg
In my opinion the article therefore is wrong. The loss is caused by bad strategy, read stupidity, nothing more nothing less.
Merrick says:
November 7, 2013 at 11:14 am
Thanks for the information on the counties and prospects of returning some of them to D.C. Maybe Virginia could work a deal where the District becomes a state. Or maybe there is a better idea.
While many are celebrating the ascendancy of Christie, permit me to remind all that he is anti-gun. Need I explain what that means? Please recall that to win the Republican primaries one has to carry a lot of red states.
I read stuff like this in my left-leaning newspaper (delivered upon my driveway) everyday.
The authors start by saying the opposition is reasonable (if deluded), then go on to disparage them at length.
The whole reason for the article is just an excuse to disparage the dissenters.
I guess accountability has been lost by the press corps.
I know, so what else is new ?
milodon: “No one can know how many Sarvis voters might simply not have voted, but had they done so, there can be little doubt that most of them would have gone with the GOP nominee.”
Yes, I understand the ‘other possible worlds’ argument on it. But that doesn’t improve things a bit. The complaint is still that the ingrates didn’t vote for your team. And that neither did they vote for your ‘approved opposition’ team. Because seriously, if there was only the Raiders and Broncos, then only one of the approved teams would win the Superbowl. But Steelers fans? Spoilers and wreckers. “Something must be done so long as it doesn’t involve improving the Raiders’ game.”
Theo Goodwin says:
November 7, 2013 at 3:50 pm
Adding three big northern VA counties (plus three little ones) & three MD counties to DC to make the State of Potomac would guarantee two extra Democrat Senators, while not guaranteeing four GOP ones from the rump VA & MD.
That said, America is settled now, & it might be time to rationalize state borders, while also lowering the disparity in population among them.
Failing that, right-to-work & voter ID states & parts thereof might want to secede & form their own capitalist nation, allowing those who want to emulate socialist Europe go their own way.
Jquip says:
November 7, 2013 at 4:04 pm
The fate of the nation isn’t sports. The fact of the matter, the political reality, is that Libertarian candidates, whether real or fake, like Sarvis, guarantee one-party domination, ie by Democrats. In our system, it’s not “approval” of two teams that matters. It’s the fact that third parties of the moderate center-right or radical libertarian bent will invariably hand victory to Democrats. A realignment from the two-party to a three-party system would still leave ~40% in the Democrat Party or its ideological equivalent, so that an even stronger Libertarian Party would make statist control more certain.
Given these realities, IMO it’s better for Libertarians to fight it out with social conservatives within the GOP, since that’s the only alternative realistically to influence public policy. Unless of course you’re happier making meaningless protest votes every election which only further the interests of statists.
milodonharlani says:
November 7, 2013 at 4:07 pm
Clearly, you should run for president of the US. We could have the US-A and the US-EU. You would be remembered as the Partition President. /sarc (That means that I am joking, in case it is not clear to someone.)
Peter Miller says: @ur momisugly November 7, 2013 at 10:35 am
So, this just goes to prove greenies will spend fortunes to keep the misdemeanours of their ‘scientific elite’ secret.
Looking at the US from the outside, I suspect the Tea Party’s attempt to nearly bring down the world economy a few weeks ago is having an impact on Republican support…..
Hate to tell you but the last bill sent to the Senate conceded Obama EVERY POINT including a raising the debt ceiling EXCEPT it would require “President Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden and other top political appointees to participate in health insurance exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act.” No special deals.
So the shut down was because the democrats wanted to keep their special privileges but don’t expect to here that from the MSM.
I could not find the original article I read it had every budjet bill listed,should have book marked it. This only deals with Obamacare:
“…”This bill ensures that all Members of Congress and the White House will finally have to live by the same laws that have been passed, just like all Americans,” RSC Chairman Steve Scalise said in a statement. “Either Obamacare is good enough that it should apply to all or it is so bad that it should apply to none. It is time for the sweetheart deals and backroom exemptions to end.”….
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is waiting on the House to send the Senate another amendment to keep the government running.
When— if—the House does send the Senate its next iteration of a continuing resolution, Reid will move to table the measure, according to a Democratic Senate aide. It will be the third time Reid has punted back the CR [Continuing Resolution] to the House…”
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/state-of-play-the-government-is-shut-down-20130930
So now we see more deals… Certain business then congresional staff and the latest (from yesterday Nov 6) is the Unions are getting exemptions from Obamacare.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/health-and-human-services-quietly-giving-unions-obamacare-fix/article/2538621
“…The Department of Health and Human Services quietly released a final rule last week that includes an intention to exempt some union insurance plans from a substantial new tax known as the reinsurance fee.
As part of Obamacare, the tax was supposed to be levied against all insurance plans to share the risk for insurers taking on the sickest patients next year.”
milodonharlani, your conclusion is exactly correct and the conclusion drawn by every rational Libertarian in the nation (Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Neal Boortz, Dennis Miller (ex-liberal), John Stossel (who used to be a liberal and bought a clue), Herman Cain, etc.). I can’t count the number of arguments I’ve had with Liberals who believe their “independent” and claim they are “libertarians who are more in tune with the social issues of the libertarian party than the fiscal issues.” BS. True libertarians understand that NOTHING is free and that every social “freedom” comes at a cost of some kind and agree that when you have to go into someone else’s pocket to fund a “freedom” it probably isn’t really freedom any more, but just another form of tyranny.
These are the same people who get confused every time I point out that if it were really true that Democrats WEREN’T Socialists and Libertarians came in both Liberal and Conservative flavors then EVERY SINGLE Socialist and Communist that has ever been elected to national office wouldn’t have caucused with the Democrats and EVERY SINGLE Libertarian that has ever been elected to national office wouldn’t have caucused with the Republicans. But, surprise of surprises, that’s exactly what has happened to date.
Not to mention that NO ex-Democrat has EVER gone on to run for a major office as a Libertarian but MANY ex-Republicans have – do I need to list them?
Libertarians need to JOIN with the Republicans to tamp down the Statists, then, there can be a more principled discussion about the size of the much smaller government (that’ll be a tough pill for some of the establishment Republicans that may still be around) and where the boundary between public and private belongs.
milodon: “The fate of the nation isn’t sports.”
Well, to the degree that a popularity contest, a beauty pageant of sorts, is not a sporting event.
” It’s the fact that third parties of the moderate center-right or radical libertarian bent will invariably hand victory to Democrats.”
It’s also the argument that the DNC backs such splitters to to keep the GOP out of office. But assume the GOP is so incomprehensibly stupid as to back groups that split the DNC vote. The prima facia the GOP isn’t competent to govern as they’re too incomprehensibly stupid to be trusted with the task. Especially if it involves any sort of PR, such as the whole of diplomacy.
Now assume that the GOP isn’t incomprehensibly stupid. Then it isn’t splitting the DNC vote precisely because it *wants* the DNC to win. Which either means the GOP is the other DNC party. Or that the establishment GOP types would rather cut off their nose to spite their face. In the latter case they are again, prima facia, not competent to govern. In the former case, they’re doing just the task they want to accomplish.
In which of these cases is a GOP voter not incomprehensibly stupid?
Gail Combs – yes, apparently Peter Miller agrees with the Democrats that some animals are more equal than others…