The Budding Rand Paul–Bob McDonnell Flame War

Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Va.).Andrew Shurtleff/ZumaPress.com

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On Saturday, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) signed into law a sweeping transportation funding bill that lowers the state gas tax, raises the sales tax, and ultimately aims to bring in $1 billion a year in new funding. It was, as Politico‘s Alex Burns wrote, just the kind of signature accomplishment McDonnell had been looking for as he prepares to leave office next January.

But for allies of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, McDonnell’s possible 2016 presidential rival, the transportation bill is something else entirely: disqualifying. Here’s a fundraising email blasted out on Monday by the Campaign for Liberty, the organization chaired by former Rep. Ron Paul (Rand’s father) and actively supported by the senator:

As the Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Bob “Tax Hike” McDonnell’s sellout has ramifications for EVERY man, woman and child in America.

It’s no secret Bob McDonnell has ambitions to run for President.

Needless to say, after this massive tax hike on Virginia citizens – and cave in on ObamaCare – a dog catcher with a record like this is the last thing we need, let alone a President.

And here’s a piece Campaign for Liberty president John Tate published at Business Insider on Wednesday:

Business Insider

The good news for McDonnell, anyway, is that he’s finally being associated with something other than transvaginal ultrasounds.

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GREAT JOURNALISM, SLOW FUNDRAISING

Our team has been on fire lately—publishing sweeping, one-of-a-kind investigations, ambitious, groundbreaking projects, and even releasing “the holy shit documentary of the year.” And that’s on top of protecting free and fair elections and standing up to bullies and BS when others in the media don’t.

Yet, we just came up pretty short on our first big fundraising campaign since Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting joined forces.

So, two things:

1) If you value the journalism we do but haven’t pitched in over the last few months, please consider doing so now—we urgently need a lot of help to make up for lost ground.

2) If you’re not ready to donate but you’re interested enough in our work to be reading this, please consider signing up for our free Mother Jones Daily newsletter to get to know us and our reporting better. Maybe once you do, you’ll see it’s something worth supporting.

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