Virginia Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli chose a much a lighter tone than usual in his latest debate recap email. The conservative politician wants to inform voters about his experiences with a fly during his Saturday morning debate with Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
"A doggone fly decided my head would be a fine landing pad!" Cuccinelli writes in an email to supporters.
"Terribly annoying," the attorney general says. "Bzzzzzzzzzzz..." he later adds.
Cuccinelli ends his email with a jab at his opponent.
"We'll have more on the debate after we digest some of the many, many whoppers Terry told and fact check organizations are already challenging," he concludes.
The text of Cuccinelli's full email in below.
Dear Friends & Fellow Virginians,
Much has been written about our recent victory in the first debate, but I wanted to share with you one little item that was noticed by very few folks other than me and Terry.
Of course, I'm talking about...the fly.
Late in the debate a doggone fly decided my head would be a fine landing pad!
You know, I prepared for a lot of things. Weird questions, lots of topics, but I never gave any thought to flies!
So, there I am thinking and talking at the same time – always a dicey proposition to begin with (but unavoidable in a debate!) – and I've got this darn fly whizzing around my head. Periodically landing which is terribly annoying.
So, while I'm thinking and talking at the same time, I'm also trying to decide things like: 'can anyone else see this fly?' Because if they can't, and I start swiping at it, I'm going to look like I've lost my mind. And if they can see it in the room, can folks see it on T.V.
And 'should I take a swipe?' What are my odds of actually getting this thing in one shot?
Bzzzzzzzzzzz...
I was fighting hard to ignore it, but it's awfully tough to do with a fly buzzing around right in your face!
As the exchanges between me and Terry continued, the result was that I did brush it off once, but otherwise didn't react to it.
I found out later from Teiro, that my friendly fly found its way to Terry too, as he took a swipe at it too.
I guess for the next debate I'll have to practice with flies buzzing around ... Yikes!
We'll have more on the debate after we digest some of the many, many whoppers Terry told and fact check organizations are already challenging!
Sincerely,
Ken Cuccinelli, II
(P.S. If you missed the debate, make sure to check out my campaign's Tumblr page with debate coverage. To see it, click here.)