Best Shots: McAuliffe-Cuccinelli Debate, Blow by Blow

By Jason Spencer

Republican Ken Cuccinelli and Democrat Terry McAuliffe squared off Wednesday night in a heated Virginia gubernatorial debate at the Capital One Conference Center in McLean.

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis called it a "mud bath."

Below are some of the jabs the candidates traded:

Cuccinelli: "If Terry's elected governor, we're going to have to change the state motto from 'Sic Semper Tyrannis' to 'Quid Pro Quo.' "

McAuliffe repeated past accusations that Cuccinelli's refusal to let state universities offer protections against discrimination of homosexual students almost cost 300 high-paying jobs at Northrop Grumann from coming to Virginia: "There are consequences to this mean-spirited attack on women's health, on gay Virginians," McAuliffe said.

Cuccinelli on McAuliffe saying he wouldn't sign a budget that didn't include Medicaid expansion: "Now I disagree with him on Medicaid expansion. But this is not an appropriate tactic for Virginia. This is a Washington tactic. And if you like the way Washington works, you will like a Governor McAuliffe."

McAuliffe on Cuccinelli's social views: "… He runs on and serves with an ideological agenda. Let it be women's health centers, where he bullied the Board of Health to shut them down. He sponsored personhood legislation that would outlaw most forms of contraception, would make the pill illegal. He's referred to gay Virginians as 'self-destructive and soulless human beings.'" 

Cuccinelli said a number of accusations against him were false, and the claim he had called homosexuals "soulless" was "offensively false.

Cuccinelli: "Terry sold more Visas to Chinese citizens as part of Greentech than his failed company has sold cars. His job history with Greentech is terrible. I'll be a governor who fights for you. Terry will fight for Terry, because he always has."