The battle to become Virginia's next governor got tenser Friday with Republican Ken Cuccinelli lobbing out new accusations against his Democratic opponent.
In a new TV ad, Cuccinelli accused Terry McAuliffe of profiting from an insurance scam that preyed on dying people.
And during an appearance on "Fox and Friends" the GOP state attorney general claimed McAuliffe is lying about him in his own paid television spots.
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The new ad — entitled "Despicable" — referenced a new report that McAuliffe had invested with a Rhode Island estate planner who now faces charges of using stolen IDs of terminally ill people.
Court documents in the case were filed Wednesday in Providence, the
Washington Post reports.
Cuccinelli was quick off the mark with his ad, slamming his opponent as a "corrupt insider," and asking Virginians "Is tht the kind of man you want as your governor?
The full text of the 30-second ad says: "Corrupt insider Terry McAuliffe made millions while workers lost jobs and pensions. Now, a shocking new discovery: court documents reveal Terry McAuliffe invested in an insurance scam that preyed on dying people. They stole the identities of the terminally ill then cashed in when they passed away.
"Profiting off the terminally ill? Is that the kind of man you want as your governor?"
The ad was released just as Cuccinelli claimed McAuliffe was lying about him in his own ads, saying the former Demcoratic National Committee chairman was trying to scare women.
"They've run out of other things to attack on. There's no positive vision from my opponent. So, all they're left with is trying to scare women," Cuccinelli told "Fox & Friends" Friday.
Cuccinelli addressed one ad by the McAuliffe campaign that features a female OB/GYN physician who warned Cuccinelli "wants to make all abortion illegal."
"I have a pro-life record. And, so, they come after that vigorously," he said.
"A more recent commercial . . . goes after contraception. And, we're not going to touch contraception. And, we never have. That doesn't stop Terry McAuliffe. He lies about it, anyway. And puts it on the air," Cuccinelli added.
According to Cuccinelli, the lies don't stop there, refuting another ad by McAuliffe attacking him over divorce.
"Before the abortion ad, it was divorce, where they were lying about that, as well," he said. "This is a pattern in this race."
A recent
Quinnipiac University poll showed McAuliffe with an 8-point lead over Cuccinelli, with the Democrat favored among women voters. The vote is set for Nov. 5.
Cuccinelli said a problem facing his campaign is money, which makes it difficult to counter the ads by his opponent.
"One of the challenges we face is being outspent, especially with their out-of-state money," he said. "We can't rebut these ad for ad."
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His long-run strategy will be to rely on the truth, Cuccinelli said.
"The truth is our friend. So, we do have to counter some of these. We'll counter the contraception ad that just went up, and call it a lie, like it is, and sweep in a lot of other things," he said.
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