A week after The Hillary Project, an anti-Clinton super PAC, released a video game where players can slap Hillary Clinton, some Republicans are already trying to distance themselves from the tasteless “game.”
Ken Cuccinelli, Republican candidate for governor of Virginia has asked his treasurer, Christopher Marston, to choose between his campaign and The Hillary Projectwhere he was also acting treasurer.
Cuccinelli is trailing Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe and has been attempting to draw attention to the former chairman of the Democratic Party’s business dealings. An electric car company McAuliffe founded is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The spokesman for The Hillary Project, Fred Wilcox came to Marston’s defense.
“We’re not a Republican group and everyone who matters knows that Marston is just a compliance vendor — nothing more. But, one struggling campaign flipped out,” Wilcox wrote, “The Ken Cuccinelli for Governor staff pushed Marston to choose between us and them since they thought that it could become another example of Cuccinelli’s backward view of a woman’s role in society.”
Marston released a statement. “I’m a treasurer for dozens of candidates, party committees, and PACs. It’s how I earn a living,” he wrote. “As a contractor, I don’t offer opinions on the content of any of my clients’ communications. It wouldn’t be ethical. Unfortunately, all of these stories have put my clients in a pinch, so I’ve asked the Hillary Project to find a new treasurer.”
The Hillary Project insists that it is not a Republican organization and has hired a new treasurer that “has not been politically active in Republican or Democratic circles previously.”
Christopher Marston has worked for several right leaning groups such as PACs for former Senator and 2012 presidential hopeful Rick Santorum (R-PA), Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA), Representative Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), and Virginia Speaker of the House William Howell (R-VA).
Cuccinelli’s biggest challenge in the coming election will likely be winning over women voters. He opposes abortion in cases of rape and incest, believes laws making consensual adult oral sex a felony ought to be upheld, will not endorse the Violence Against Women Act, and is opposed to sex education even at the university level.
Cuccinelli’s press secretary Anna Nix did say on Monday, “We find the website to be reprehensible. Marston informed the campaign that he had nothing to do with its production and upon learning of its existence, he immediately resigned from the Super PAC.”
H/t: Think Progress
(Image via Flickr Creative Commons/Gage Skidmore)
