Last week, Terry McAuliffe created a candidate campaign committee to run for Governor.

In the past week, several high-powered Virginia columnists, opinion writers and reporters covering the Virginia political beat weighed in. Many of the comments were not so favorable, with some labeling McAuliffe a "carpetbagger."

"You don't join the church today and run for pope tomorrow," Pixie Bell, for 40 years a Democratic Party leader in Fairfax County, told the Associated Press. "He's just kind of dropped out of the sky."

A few of the comments:  

Virginian Pilot Editorial
Terry McAuliffe's gubernatorial appeal built on money, 11/14/08

“As Terry McAuliffe begins the ritual leading to a 2009 gubernatorial bid, he's relying on a peculiar premise for why he'd be the best candidate to lead the Democratic ticket: money, and plenty of it. That not-so-subtle quid pro quo undoubtedly will warm up his welcome among Democratic officeholders worried about filling their campaign treasuries, but it's unlikely to score him any bonus points with Virginia voters.”

“Has he forgotten that Hillary Clinton got just 35 percent of the Democratic primary vote last February? Why does that matter? Because McAuliffe was chairman of her presidential campaign committee.” 

Marc Fisher’s Washington Post Column
Gubernatorial Is One Thing Terry McAuliffe Isn't, 11/13/08

“Now McAuliffe wants to be governor of Virginia, a job that has more to do with repairing roads and managing prisons than it does with sweet-talking Hollywood moguls and spinning the loudmouths on CNN, MSNBC and Fox.”
 

Virginian Pilot Editorial
Change We Need Isn’t McAuliffe, 9/18/08

“Virginia starts to look like Plan B for a bored political fundraiser whose favored candidate just threw in the towel.”

“He is a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee …. That should get McAuliffe a nice job somewhere, but it doesn't making him qualified to be governor.”

“He's toyed with gubernatorial runs in New York and Florida. If he's dead set on running a state, perhaps he should reconsider those options. He'd probably fit in better on Broadway than he would in downtown Suffolk.”

Associated Press
Ex-DNC chief stumps for Obama but eyes Va. Race, 10/7/08

"You don't join the church today and run for pope tomorrow," said Pixie Bell, for 40 years a Democratic Party leader in Fairfax County. "He's just kind of dropped out of the sky."

Professor Larry Sabato
Associated Press, Ex-DNC chief stumps for Obama but eyes Va. Race, 10/7/08 & Washington Times, Terry McAuliffe eyes Virginia gubernatorial run, 9/12/08

“‘Mr. McAuliffe lacks Mr. Warner's in-state experience and familiarity,’ Mr. Sabato said.

"‘I don't think he knows much about Virginia's geography, people or policies. I'm sure he could get briefed quickly, but that's not usually how Virginians pick a governor.’”

"‘Terry McAuliffe has two giant problems. One is he's well to the left of the Mark Warner model and, two, he has no discernible connection to Virginia government and politics.’"
 

Jeff Schapiro’s Richmond Times-Dispatch Column
McAuliffe is an X Factor for Dems, 10/5/08

“The restless former chairman of the Democratic National Committee … McAuliffe may be a man with too much time and money on his hands.”

“They also should worry what it suggests about state Democrats; that at the worst possible occasion -- an election for governor, the main event in Virginia -- they could become synonymous with the we-centric politics of the Clintons….”

“… That might be unavoidable, since Moran and Deeds have what McAuliffe lacks: Virginia credentials.”

“McAuliffe isn't trying to earn his spurs as much as buy them.”

“A trial balloon for governor of Florida in 2005 -- punctured, well, because he doesn't live there. His $18 million profit on a $100,000 investment in Global Crossing, a giant telecom that collapsed in 2002. Plundered, gone-bust businesses are now even less fashionable.”

“Can't you hear McAuliffe in a debate: ‘And I can see Richmond from my house.’"

Ryan Nobles’ of NBC12
Decision 2009 Column 9/15/08

“The reception [to McAuliffe] has been lukewarm at best on the Democratic side and downright exciting on the Republican side.”

Waynesboro News Virginian Editorial
McAuliffe Maps Road to Capital, 9/19/08

“… McAuliffe may now pursue the next logical stop: Running for governor of a state he scarcely knows.”

“... [Gov. Mark] Warner ran in a losing race for the U.S. Senate in 1996 and served as chairman of the state Democratic Party and manager of Douglas Wilder’s winning 1989 campaign for governor. Warner, in other words, knew Virginia and its politics. Not so McAuliffe.”

“Virginia is the place where jet sets drop him between excursions to exotic locales such as the Dominican Republic .… Virginia needs a leader who knows the way to Richmond rather than Rio.”