Ken Cuccinelli doesn’t buy the caricature his opponents paint of him

In the wake of a rousing victory at the Virginia Republican Convention, the GOP candidate for Attorney General has been relativity quiet. After a whirlwind tour around the state with his new ticketmates Ken Cuccinelli spent the last few weeks almost underground, building back up his spent fundraising coffers and gearing up for the race ahead.

The longtime Fairfax Senator burst back onto the scene the past few days by picking up media hits all over the state after calling for Governor Tim Kaine to bring the legislature back to Richmond to deal with the fallout from the Melendez-Diaz vs. Massachusetts Supreme Court decision. (If you want to learn more about that issue you can see my report from Friday night on NBC12 here.)

I sat down with Cuccinelli for the first time since he won his party’s nomination and much like the conversation I had with his opponent back in May we discussed a number of topics. While Steve Shannon has worked hard to paint himself as a non-partisan practitioner of the law, Cuccinelli proudly waves the flag of conservative republicanism. In fact during his speech at the Republican Convention, Cuccinelli supporters waded into the crowd at the Richmond Coliseum waving “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, as an indication of his belief that government should stay out of people’s lives.

But while Cuccinelli’s opponents, have already worked hard to describe the long time Senator as a fringe right winger (His nomination prompted the DPV to label he, McDonnell and Bolling as the most “divisive” ticket in Virginia history), Cuccinelli believes their rhetoric does not match his record. In particular he points to his ability to continue to get re-elected in Fairfax, not necessarily a base for conservatives.

While Democratic party leaders continue their push to paint “Cooch” (as he is affectionately called by supporters and foes) with bright red colors, his opponent Steve Shannon is trying to work hard to point out that he has never worked as a prosecutor. It is a credential that Shannon, and Cuccinelli’s Republican primary opponents, both describe as essential. Cuccinelli rejects that idea and even attempts to minimize Shannon’s brief career as a prosecutor. He believes his decades of work as an attorney and member of the legislature, serving on key law related committees, make him just as prepared.

After the jump I have extended clips from Cuccinelli where he rebuts those two pieces of criticism of his career and his campaign…

Kaine’s spokesman on SCOTUS decision: “No one is taking this lightly”

Ryan Nobles – bio | email

Governor Tim Kaine is out of the state for the weekend, but according to spokesman Gordon Hickey, his legal staff is busy at work preparing to present the Governor with a long list of options to deal with the problems presented by the Supreme Court decision Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts.

Senator Ken Cuccinelli, a candidate for Attorney General called on the Governor to bring the legislature back to Richmond to deal immediately with the issue, that he claims. will lead to the prosecutors across the commonwealth dropping D.U.I cases.

“No one is taking this lightly,” said Hickey. “The Governor’s legal staff is exploring a variety of options and taking legislative action is among them.”

In a statement released late last night Cuccinelli said that the Kaine administration cannot waste time and must get the General Assembly back to work, before Commonwealth’s Attorneys across the state run out of options. Hickey said the Kaine administration is taking a measured approach to the issue and it indicated that it would be irresponsible to call the entire legislature back before exhausting all the options the Governor has in front of him.

“There is no need to jump right to the legislature,” Hickey said. “The Governor is closely working with his legal team to determine the appropriate course of action.”

Hickey said that while Kaine himself has not received calls from CA’s around Virginia, there have been “calls of concern” and that is why the staff is busy at work getting ready to provide the Governor with some options.

**UPDATE**

Cuccinelli’s opponent Steve Shannon’s campaign has weighed in on the Melendez-Diaz issue on not suprisingly pointed to their candidates’ career as a prosecutor. Incoming Campaign Manager Mike Henry said that Cuccinelli is only attempting to “hide his weak record on drunk driving laws, with a PR stunt that would cost taxpayers money.”

Henry said that Shannon supports Governor Kaine’s efforts to find an administrative solution to the problem. His full statement can be found after the jump.

**UPDATE ENDS**

Meanwhile, Cuccinelli released to the media, the letter he sent to Kaine, asking him to bring the legislature back. A copy of the letter is posted after the jump..

Cuccinelli calls on Kaine to bring legislature back to Richmond

Republican candidate for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a member of the Virginia Senate himself, is asking Governor Tim Kaine to call a special session to deal with a Supreme Court ruling dealing with drinking and driving.

In a statement released late tonight, Cuccinelli claims that the decision by the Supreme Court justices in the Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts case presents a problem whereby prosecutors are being forced to suspend drunk driver prosecutions.

According to the Cuccinelli release, the Melendez-Diaz ruling prevents local Commonwealth’s Attorneys from using a certificate of analysis of their findings for use in court in drug and D.U.I. cases. In the past it has served as sufficient evidence to prove that a substance was in a defendant’s blood stream. In the wake of this case, Cuccinelli believes it will be necessary for prosecutors to call actual scientists to the stand in each case. Something the state has neither the time or money to pursue.

Senator Cuccinelli said, “A legislative fix would be much better than hiring 100-200 new scientists, which we couldn’t do now even if we tried.”

Cuccinelli said that if Kaine is reluctant to take call for the special session, he is going to encourage his legislative colleagues to do so on their own.

I am schedule to sit down with the Senator tomorrow to learn more about this effort. I will also reach out to his opponent Steve Shannon and Governor Kaine’s office as well. For now, you can read the candidate’s full release after the jump:

**UPDATE**

It is apparently a big night for news in the AG race. My friend Ben Tribbett at NLS is reporting that Mike Henry, of Warner/Kaine fame has signed on to help Steve Shannon. A quality, insider get for the for the first time statewide candidate.