“Give me a name, Governor. Give me a name."
Katy Tur asked Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe who the leader of the Democratic Party was during an MSNBC interview. It would seem Democrats can’t name a leader for their party.
McAuliffe refused to answer the question directly, saying, “I think there are many leaders of the Democratic Party.” Seemingly, he prefers an inclusive approach to his party’s leadership.
Instead, he said the leaders were governors who are effectively building and leading states-- “Governors need to lead the way.”
Tur asked him if he was referring to himself since he is a governor.
“Yeah…” then, fully understanding the question, he added: “Oh, no. As chairman of the national governors association, I love all of our governors that we have today,” keeping the spirit of inclusivity.
Gov. McAuliffe did give himself a little credit: “I run the state of Virginia today. That's what I got elected to do, and 66 percent of the state think we're heading the right direction." Taking the opportunity to comment on the Trump administration and steer the conversation in a different direction, he said that the administration was making it difficult to get his job done.
Tur admitted she was confused by the response, and that she couldn't get any Democrat to answer her question. Other high-profile Democrats have dodged the question or didn’t have an answer, including Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
In a CNN interview in March, Pelosi named former President Barack Obama and defeated Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton before saying, “we have leaders for all different aspects of it.”
So in spite of giving the impression of a leaderless bunch, Gov. McAuliffe remains optimistic and determined. “We have to lead Katy, you know that…we have to deliver results.”