Cuccinelli the Corrector

Although Virginia's sitting attorney general likes to strike the pose of a conservative, traditional kind of guy, so far he has eschewed a tradition his predecessors followed when they resigned from the AG's job, to actively campaign for governor.

Cuccinelli is Virginia's fifth straight Republican attorney general. The last Democrat was Stephen D. Rosenthal, who finished out Mary Sue Terry’s term, when she resigned to pursue the keys to the Governor Mansion in 1993. The AGs since Terry also stepped down to run for governor. Jim Gilmore and Bob McDonnell were successful. Mark Earley and Jerry Kilgore were not.

Then again, many of today's most outspoken conservatives seem happy enough to walk away from traditional Republican positions when it suits them. So, perhaps calling Cuccinelli a "right-wing ideologue" comes closer to describing his political brand or philosophy. Whether such an image will be useful to him in his gubernatorial run remains to be seen.

Three years ago I wrote a series of pieces on the then-new attorney general for Richmond.com. Here's a blurb from the one published on May 17, 2010:

So, it’s fair to assume Cuccinelli is considering a gubernatorial run, too. Whether the sitting AG will stand aside in 2013, to let Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling have a clear path to run for governor, remains to be seen. That's what is supposed to happen, but we'll see ... However, to find Cuccinelli’s counterpart in history, perhaps we need to look further back in time, all the way back to a colorful 18th century figure — Alexander Cruden (1699-1770). Cruden is better known by his self-imposed nickname, Alexander the Corrector.

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-- Image from Richmond.com.