McAuliffe loses in Virginia primary

Terry McAuliffe's gubernatorial dream is dashed as he loses to Creigh Deeds in the Democratic primary. McAuliffe's campaign was well funded and endorsed by party heavyweights such as former President Bill Clinton, and this defeat may signal the diminishing influence of the Clintons in the Democrat Party.

Deeds' victory means a rematch against Bob McDonnell (R). They both ran for state attorney general four years ago with McDonnell winning by a margin of only 323 votes.

This is one of the major 2010 races to keep an eye on.

Did McAuliffe try to bribe Ralph Nader?

Consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader is accusing former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe of trying to push him out of the 2004 race:

Nader said that McAuliffe offered him an unspecified amount of money to campaign in 31 states if Nader would agree to pull his campaign in 19 battleground states.

Interestingly,

McAuliffe isn't denying the charge. His spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith said in a statement McAuliffe "was concerned that Ralph Nader would cost John Kerry the election as he did Al Gore in 2000 and give us another four years of George W. Bush."

McAuliffe is now vying to run for the governor of Virginia in a hotly contested 3-way Democratic primary. Looks like some skeletons are being dug up already.