In the April 3rd edition of the Cuccinelli Compass. Senator Ken Cuccinelli has a lot to say about the progress campaign to be our next Attorney General. That includes what Virginia’s blogs are saying about it. In addition, he reports about our governor’s flip-flop on the death penalty.
Dear Fellow Republican:
Quick Out of the Blocks.
Wow! Thanks for your support! We announced for AG in the afternoon on Monday and by the end of the day on Tuesday over 250 people had already signed up on our website committing to come to the 2009 convention on our behalf.
Will you please help us get over 1,000 in the first week? If you haven’t signed up yourself, please commit to supporting my campaign for AG. Please click here and check the box in the upper right hand corner to commit to come to Richmond for us next year!
For all of you that are committing to support us, please get your spouse and your Republican friends to join you on our team! Like every other campaign we’ve run, we rely on our fellow principled, grassroots activists to carry our campaigns forward. Please let your Republican, Libertarian, Conservative, Pro-Life, Anti-Tax, Pro-Property Rights, and Pro-Second Amendment friends know about our campaign and my many years of fighting for conservative principles in Northern Virginia and in the State Senate. We need your help and we have some early momentum, but it won’t keep going without your help. Please don’t delay this effort.
Recruiting ALWAYS Comes First For Me.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t do any fundraising. and that has begun too (hint, hint)! Please click here to donate today. We need to start preparing now for the inevitable onslaught.
Coverage of Our Announcement
Here are some samples from around Virginia of the coverage of our announcement:
From the Roanoke Times: “Cuccinelli, a stalwart conservative and tenacious campaigner, said he could bring geographic balance to a ticket that likely will be headed by gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, the current attorney general, and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who will seek re-election. Cuccinelli said he already has a statewide donor base and broad support from grass-roots activists who could be instrumental in choosing the GOP nominee next year..
.Cuccinelli has been a fierce advocate of property rights and was the chief Senate sponsor of 2007 legislation defining uses for which government can exercise eminent domain authority. And he was part of a special Senate subcommittee this year that developed comprehensive legislation to reform the state’s mental health commitment laws and improve monitoring of community-based outpatient treatment.
The mental health reform effort gained urgency after last year’s shootings at Virginia Tech, but Cuccinelli had been working on the issue before the campus killings.”
From the Richmond Times Dispatch: “‘I am unapologetically pro-life and anti-tax and I have been the biggest defender of the Second Amendment and property rights in the Virginia State Senate since my arrival,” [Cuccinelli] said.
‘And I have done all this in some of the toughest political territory for a conservative, not merely in Northern Virginia, but in inner Northern Virginia,’ he said.
During the recently concluded General Assembly session, Cuccinelli offered an amendment to strip $200,000 in funding for Planned Parenthood. Budget negotiators later restored the funding.
He also played a major role in crafting the mental-health-reform package.
In 2007, Cuccinelli was the chief sponsor of legislation limiting government’s use of eminent domain to acquire property.”
From the Daily Press: “‘We need to do better in Northern Virginia,’ Cuccinelli said. ‘We’re not, as a party, writing Northern Virginia off.‘.
.Cuccinelli has been an active player in some of the General Assembly’s more complex debates, including reform of eminent domain law and mental health. He has worked as a court-appointed attorney representing people who are up for commitment because of mental health concerns. That experience, he said, helped him speak out after the Virginia Tech massacre, when mental health reform took center stage.
He favors strict controls on illegal immigration and has sponsored various proposals to rein in the size of government. Examples of the latter include a constitutional amendment to limit state spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth, and limits on local real estate taxes.”
From the Washington Post: “Cuccinelli, never afraid to take on his ideological foes, made it clear that he is undeterred by his unpopularity among the Democrats who control Fairfax County politics. (Gerald E. Connolly, the Democratic chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, joked that the building had been ‘defiled’ by Cuccinelli’s appearance.).
. ‘This would be a ticket with a record of fighting for Virginia’s families and businesses and representing the three most populous parts of the commonwealth, all while still maintaining a set of values and policies that I believe will resonate very strongly in rural Virginia as well,’ Cuccinelli said. ‘That’s a combination for victory for Republicans in 2009.’”
And on some blogs.
One of “theirs,” Anonymous Is A Woman: “The problem with labeling Ken Cuccinelli is that he appears to be a personable, reasonable, and nice person who just happens to hold some opinions that differ from those of most of his constituents. But he will listen to them earnestly and treat them politely – except in a debate, where he’s murder if you’re not prepared. But politely so, which is more devastating.”
From a comment on one of “ours,” Too Conservative: “I understand what you all say about about Ken’s tough conservative principles, and many mock his election. But lets look at it realistically.
1. The entire Democrat Party of Virginia, Mark Warner on down, raised money and attacked Sen. Cuccinelli since the day he was elected. He has beaten them three times on their home field, Fairfax.
2. He’s been able to find voters in an area not strong for Republicans no contemporary GOP candidate has found. As much as moderates who frequent this blog want to bash Cooch, he’s won where everyone has lost.
3. 2007. We have three state senators in Fairfax. . [only] Ken wins. So for all the calls of moderates that say Ken will be wiped out, they’ve been saying that for years.
Cuccinelli is a movement building, a master organizer, gives the ticket a foothold in Northern Virginia..“
Governor Kaine’s Recent Decision on the Death Penalty was Wrong
During the 2005 campaign, then-candidate Kaine said that he would enforce the death penalty even though he did not agree with the death penalty. Here are some of the things he has said on the subject – from his own mouth:
“Kaine has said that, if elected, he would follow Virginia law in enforcing the death penalty — as the oath of office requires. He would not attempt, he adds, to circumvent executions by using the governor’s powers of clemency to pardon or commute death sentences.” (Washington Post, 10/31/05)
“Kaine responded in his own ad that ‘my faith teaches life is sacred. That’s why I personally oppose the death penalty. But I take my oath of office seriously, and I’ll enforce the death penalty.’” (Race for Va. Governor a Tight One to the Finish,” USA Today, 11/3/05)
Those quotes were from 2005. Less than two weeks ago, Governor Kaine was saying the following:
“I pledged to the voters of Virginia that I would enforce the law about the death penalty, which I don’t believe in.I have personal opposition, but I do take an oath to uphold the law, and I do and I have, and I will continue to.” (Northern Virginia Daily, 3/22/08)
And then, this week came the flip-flop on this important issue:
“Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Tuesday stopped all executions in Virginia, including one of a convicted police killer set for next week, until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling on the constitutionality of lethal injections.” (Kaine Stays Executions Pending Ruling on Lethal Injection, The Virginian Pilot, 4/2/08)
Gov. Kaine said he was delaying all executions until after the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of lethal injection as a method of execution. This is a very serious issue, and I believe the very simplest way to see that Gov. Kaine’s decision was wrong is to note that convicted cop-killer Edward Bell, who’s sentence Kaine commuted yesterday, still had his own U.S. Supreme Court review ahead of him. If the Governor is using the Supreme Court as an excuse to delay the execution, that is a straw-man argument, given the Supreme Court’s ability to rule on the execution of Bell even if Kaine took no action.
One of the reasons to have the death penalty is for its deterrent value, and the certainty of enforcement has been shown to be related to the actual deterrent effect. Governor Kaine is undermining one of the basic reasons to utilize the death penalty in the first place and I do not agree with his decision, and like so many other Virginians, I certainly do not appreciate his change in position from his campaign stance.
Ready to Get On Board?
Last but not least today, we need interns in the office! If you have an astute, conservative high schooler or college student who can drive to our office, we’d like to put him or her to work, as we’re already deluged with work (a blessing and a curse.). Please email EveMarie@Cuccinelli.com to inquire about this opportunity. We have a long track record of educating our interns on the ins and outs of practical politics, and we also arm them to defend their conservative positions in the real world! So, please, volunteer yourself or send us your fine young men and women to help us out!
Sincerely,
Senator Ken Cuccinelli Virginia 37th District
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