This development will help Terry McAuliffe get . . . eh, one or two votes this November.
Longtime Republican political strategist Boyd Marcus is endorsing Democrat Terry McAuliffe for governor and will advise his campaign.
Marcus was an architect of Republican former Gov. Jim Gilmore’s 1997 successful campaign. He also has advised the campaigns of U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Richmond.
Most recently, Marcus guided the aborted gubernatorial bid of Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who has refused to rally behind the man who won the GOP nomination, Ken Cuccinelli.
Marcus wasn’t just Gilmore’s campaign chief; he was chief of staff to the governor for most of his term and was Virginia state coordinator for the George H. W. Bush campaign in 1988.
This development will also fuel the conservative grassroots’ distrust of moderate candidates; they perceive that when their preferred candidate doesn’t win, as with the non-Romney options of 2012, they’re asked to hold their nose and support the nominee, but moderates will bail if their guy doesn’t win the primary.