Gov. Bob McDonnell released a television advertisement yesterday highlighting the economic progress the state of Virginia has made during his term, prompting speculation about McDonnell's possible vice-presidential aspirations.
In the advertisement, McDonnell highlights many recent economic developments across the state, in particular emphasizing that Virginia now has the lowest unemployment rate in three years, as well as the state's 2011 selection as "America's best state for business" by CNBC and its budget surpluses.
Center for Politics spokesperson Geoffrey Skelley said McDonnell's advertisement was unprecedented, especially given Virginia's constitution prevents him from seeking gubernatorial re-election.
"Spending almost $400,000 on an ad campaign and you're not even technically running for anything is highly unusual," Skelley said. "I don't know of a previous case of this and it definitely struck people as unusual."
McDonnell spokesperson Tucker Martin declined to comment on whether the advertisement signifies, as some political pundits have suggested, McDonnell's attempt to increase his appeal as a running mate to likely Republican Party presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
"Lots of folks have mentioned his name for vice president [but] they've mentioned lots of names," Martin said. "That's something absolutely out of our control."
Instead, Martin said the advertisement, though certainly rare, intended to raise awareness of positive developments during McDonnell's term.
"This ad is about all the great things happening in Virginia," Martin said. "We're probably the first Virginia governor to run an ad during their term, but governors use any method to send out a positive message about [their] administration."
Skelley said he thought McDonnell's promotion of the state's economic progress could be a way of exorcising some of the negative attention he has garnered for his conservative stance on social issues.
"I don't think there's any doubt McDonnell would be very interested in being the vice-presidential nominee with Romney," Skelley said. "The main drawback to Romney picking him is that McDonnell has signed a few controversial bills into laws, such as the ultrasound bill. These laws could distract Romney's campaign [because] Romney's economic. That's his appeal."
Brian Moran, the Chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, said the conservatism of recent decisions made by the Virginia legislature was a "crippling blow to [McDonnell's] national image."
"It is a slick ad that seems to be ill-conceived after the legislative session," Moran said. "He's using the recent ad campaign to polish his image after the legislative session."
Skelley said Politics Prof. Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball election analysis, which offers predictions for upcoming political contests nationwide, marked McDonnell as being in the second-tier of Romney's potential vice-presidential selections. He said Romney was more likely to choose Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-Louisiana or Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin.
Moran said, however, he thought McDonnell would accept a vice-presidential nomination if given the opportunity.
-Staff Writer Lizzy Turner contributed to this article.
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