Maybe he's actually going to get in the race.

Mo is the MAN, btw.

that McAuliffe was running.

Top 5 Reason to Vote For Terry McAuliffe

1.  He thinks that "shad planking" is a popular Virginia Beach dance.

2.  When asked about the southwest coal fields, he'll say, "but I'm not running in West Virginia!"

3.  Chesapeake Bay clean-up?  "The Chesapeake Bay is in Maryland, you know, over in Annapolis."

4.  He thinks that Broad Street in Richmond is where you go to meet hot women.

5.  He thinks that Dominion Power involves leather whips and really kinky sex.
 

success in Richmond with our lawmakers, possibly on Broad Street? :)

The Virgnian-Pilot last week got it about right. McAuliffe is not a good fit. (http://hamptonroads.com/2008/09/change-we-need-isnt-terry-mcauliffe)

What does McAuliffe bring to the table other than money and celebrity status?  We need a lot of things in Virginia, but not garruluous, sycophantic politicos who've master the talk-show circus but know next to nothing about governing.  

It's looking like he's in. If you've got Mo on your side, that means your serious.

I'm thinking this makes Deeds the frontrunner.

Does anyone know where McAuliffe's personal wealth comes from?  I think it's self-made, but I've never seen a description of actually how it was made.

No ulterior motive, I'm just curious.

...he's started and run numerous businesses since he was young, doing extremely well given his natural salesman abilities and hard work.

and it doesn't really come across to me that way at all.  Yes, McAuliffe talks about himself a lot, but overwhelmingly it's in a light-hearted, playful, humorous way that is hard to hate.  Unless you're a book reviewer for the NY Times, apparently. :)

After Gilmore is likely crushed in the Senate race, and the national presidential election is over, is there a chance Tom Davis might opt into the Governor's race---- especially if he decides being a Republican on K Street won't be all that much fun with a Democratic Congress and Democratic President, so he foregoes the lobbying job? By then the Frederick wing of the Republican Party in Virginia just might have a more positive view of damnyankee moderate Davis, and, if a national Democrat like McAuliffe thinks he's qualified for governorship, why not national Republican like Tom Davis?

Your mentioning Davis made me think that Davis is just the GOP counterpart to McAuliffe, a mere opportunist.  Davis exploited the Gingrich wave and short-sighted dislike of Bill Clinton to unseat true progressive hero Leslie Byrne.  He knew from the get-go, however, that he was living on borrowed time as the District turned bluer.  Just because he's an opportunist, doesn't mean he's dumb, though.  In fact, I'd argue that his intelligence allowed him to retain the seat as long as he did.  If he were running for re-election now, I think Connolly would have stayed out, and Byrne would have regained her seat.  When Chap Petersen surged ahead of Davis' wife in the polls, Davis actually chose his wife over his brain and threw his own campaign money down that rat hole.  The VA GOP put the final nail in Davis' coffin by opting for a convention to choose their Sen. nominee.  I don't think the VA GOP is smart enough to nominate someone with a prayer of getting NoVA votes like Davis, and I don't think Davis is dumb enough to try, because another humiliating loss may brand him forever as an unelectable loser.  He's already said he's looking at Webb's seat in 2012, though it's easy and cheap to talk about that now.  If Webb wants another six years, I'm confident he'll know just how to get it, scaring people like Davis away from challenging him.