The Terry McAuliffe Bat-Lights

Gubernatorial candidate and former DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe was not going to be outdone at Virginia’s annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner in Richmond. His campaign’s largesse was on full display here Saturday, and for most of the day his Democratic rivals were nowhere in sight. McAuliffe led an afternoon rally headlined by a 15-member marching band and a couple hundred supporters. Volunteers blanketed the streets outside the Richmond Convention Center with McAuliffe for Governor signs, and then led a well-attended grassroots training inside the convention center with McAuliffe, his campaign manager Mike Henry and senior strategist Mo Elleithee. The McAuliffe campaign had most of the day to itself as the campaigns of former Delegate Brian Moran and State Senator R. Creigh Deeds didn’t even try to rival McAuliffe’s rally. “I was kind of hoping they would do something,” Mike Henry told me. “It kind of takes the fun out of it.”The Deeds campaign did make an early evening entrance into the convention center with a couple dozen supporters wielding signs and a cheerleading squad, though. But, the McAuliffe campaign isn’t done yet. It plans on lighting the night sky outside the convention center with two “Go Terry Go” bat-lights. Seriously … Terry McAuliffe bat-lights. I get the message: They’ve got lots of money. Shane D’Aprile is Senior Editor at Politics magazine. sdaprile@politicsmagazine.com