Former VA Gov. Doug Wilder Appears at Romney Fundraiser (Updates)

At a fundraiser at the Richmond, VA Marriott tonight for the Romney campaign, there was a surprise guest. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell introduced Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who in turn introduced Rep. Paul Ryan. But before McDonnell took the mic, another figure was acknowledging dignitaries in the crowd. Among those dignitaries addressed from the stage, was former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder, according to a Tatler source who was there.

Wilder, a Democrat, is the first black politician elected governor in the United States. He served as governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. Wilder has been sharply critical of Vice President Joe Biden’s controversial “chains” comment this week.

Gov. Wilder’s appearance at a fundraiser for the Republican presidential ticket is sure to set off shock waves among the Democrats, and lead to speculation that he could shake up the race with more criticism of the Democratic ticket.

Update: Inagist has a conflicting report.

Pool: Gov. Wilder was at the hotel, but he was apparently planning to attend Gov. McDonnell’s education summit and went to the wrong hotel.

My source says Gov. Wilder was acknowledged from the stage.

Update: Gov. Wilder certainly has reason to be annoyed with the Obama camp. He criticized Biden’s “chains” comment, only to have WH spokesman Jay Carney hit him back, saying that he didn’t have any point in criticizing Biden. Wilder returned to Fox this afternoon and spent a few minutes mocking Biden. On Twitter today, Gov. Wilder tweeted “We are not African Americans – we are all Americans.” That was an obvious shot at the Obama campaign’s divisive rhetoric.

One more point to make: That pool report above comes from the same media that did not report the FRC shooting for about two and in some cases three hours after it occurred. They don’t always know what’s going on before the rest of us do.

Update: Today, Gov. Wilder also tweeted “RCP: “Maybe voters won’t notice that this administration has lost hope and resists change.”: http://bit.ly/PrZWWn

The link goes to a column by conservative Debra Saunders, which rips both campaigns but especially the Obama campaign for negative ads. It criticizes the Joe Soptic ad.

Update: Here is video from Gov. Wilder’s appearance on Fox today. Wilder was very entertaining, and called Biden a “tar baby” that President Obama is stuck with.