Republican Ken Cuccinelli, running hard, has been hobbled in race for Virginia governor Two days before the vote, Cuccinelli finds himself lagging in the polls. He's so far behind financially that the Democrats outspent his campaign on TV ads by 10-to-1 last week. As he crisscrosses the state this weekend, speaking mainly to his conservative base, Cuccinelli is presenting himself as the scrappy underdog, the fighter who thrives on coming from behind. "The truth is our friend," he told a gathering of fewer than 100 people in Bristow, in Prince William County, last week at an appearance with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. The more you get to know about me, the better we will do. But many GOP strategists, politicians and donors share three deep worries: As Virginians have learned more about Cuccinelli, they have become less likely to vote for him. The Republican's campaign failed to give independents, women and minorities reasons to do so. And Cuccinelli's lack of resources has made it hard for him to counter relentless negative advertising from Democrat Terry McAuliffe's side. About two-thirds of Republican Gov. Robert F. McDonnell's top donors in 2009 have given Cuccinelli little or nothing, according to a Washington Post review of finance records. "No campaign is ever an easy one, and they're made much more difficult when there are so many outside influences that one has absolutely no control over," said Chris LaCivita, Cuccinelli's chief campaign strategist. Our attitude has always been to worry about the things that we can control. A strong start The first thing the Cuccinelli campaign controlled was how the Republicans chose their candidate for governor. Sixteen months ago, mustering support from tea party activists and Christian conservatives, the attorney general's backers forced a convention, instead of a primary, and wrestled the nomination away from Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, the favorite of many party insiders. Bolling has refused to endorse Cuccinelli, as have several GOP mayors and former legislators. Cuccinelli looked strong. As a state senator from Fairfax County, he had long bucked his party's leaders, dismissing those who believed that compromise was more important than standing tall for principle. Now, he had the victory to show that the party's right flank was ascendant. Cuccinelli's camp had every right to view the path to the governor's mansion as manageable. In nine straight governor's races, going back to 1977, Virginians have elected the party opposite to the one that won the White House the year before. McAuliffe was trounced in his first bid for governor, in 2009, winning only 26 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary. And Republicans had dominated fundraising that year, with McDonnell spending $24 million to Democrat R. Creigh Deeds's $14 million.