Former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe made a plea for bipartisanship during his inaugural address Saturday, as well as pitched an expansion of Medicaid in the state under the federal health care reform law, the Associated Press reports.
McAuliffe, a big-time Bill and Hillary Clinton campaign financier, fought a difficult campaign and narrowly beat Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. He has appealed for an expansion of Medicaid to 400,000 low-income Virginians under the Affordable Care Act, as well as new ethics rules in the wake of a federal investigation into thousands of dollars of gifts and loans to outgoing governor Republican Bob McDonnell.
Virginia will face “serious economic headwinds” during his upcoming tenure, McAuliffe said during his address, and he is determined to avoid partisan gridlock.
“Common ground doesn’t move towards us, we move towards it,” he said.
[AP]