Red NoVA

Hello Readers of Red NoVA! Today we continue our “Meet the Candidate: Attorney General 2009? series. I recently sat down with Senator Ken Cuccinelli and had a discussion with him on his candidacy for Attorney General.

In Part I, we’ll talk about his views on the issues, and why he thinks he should be the nominee for AG. In Part II, we’ll discuss his views on local and state politics, his qualifications, and why he got into the race. Enjoy!

PART ONE

Senator Ken Cuccinelli

We started off by asking him if he would continue Bob McDonnell’s policies, or set a new course for AG. Here’s what he had to say,

Bob has done a good job [as AG]. We have a lot going for us, and got to keep it in our hands. There will be a lot of continuation [of McDonnell's policies], but the direction will change.

 On the state of the campaign, Cuccinelli cited how pleased he’s been with reactions of the party and supporters. In refering to the straw poll in 2008, Ken had this to say,

We comfortably beat my competition. In the straw poll, we were dealing with Party regulars.  We’re doing well. Several GOP Chairs have endorsed me, as well as many Senators, Prosecutors, Delegates and leading party officials. 

We moved into a discussion on the issues, starting with the smoking ban in restaurants,

I have this attachment to liberty and freedom. I loathe smoking, but I prefer freedom. We’re looking at a Government mandate. Government shouldn’t be in the business of telling people what to do. 88% of Fairfax restaurants have smoke-free dining. The free market has spoken.

We also talked a bit on the Death Penalty. 

I support the Death Penalty. I have voted to increase it many times. One issue don’t support increasing the death penalty is the triggerman rule. It would be the biggest expansion of the Death Penalty since 1976. It doesn’t make sense in ALL circumstances. We’re talking about putting multiple people to death…

Aside from our policy discussions, we talked about Too Conservative‘s recent claim that Cuccinelli will “pull down” the McDonnell-Bolling ticket. Here was his response,

People don’t understand how some voters vote for Gerry Connolly for Chairman and then me for Senate. People care about constituent service and being smart with policy. McDonnell and Bolling are going to get tens of thousands of votes that they wouldn’t otherwise get…

Adding to how he could help the ticket, Senator Cuccinelli added this, 

We’re going to try and win in NOVA. If we beat them [Democrats], there, check-mate. I can do that…

Senator Cuccinelli stressed the importance of being able to compete in NOVA, citing loses in Kilgore’s and Allen’s races, as well as the 2007 races.

Thanks for joining us! Check back soon for Part II.