dents’ cellphones to deter cyberbul- lying and sexting. And he says the University of Virginia’s policy bar- ring handguns on campus cannot be legally enforced.
“He’s the most activist attorney general Virginia ever had. He’s one of the most active in the country,” says Larry Sabato, a political science pro- fessor at the University of Virginia, who once taught Cuccinelli. “As a result, he’s also very polarizing.” The legal challenge that propelled Cuccinelli, 43, onto the national stage and into the loving arms of the tea party, is his fi ght against the health- care law that Obama and Democrats enacted in 2010.
A mere 15 minutes after the presi- dent signed it into law on March 23, 2010, Cuccinelli’s aides, trailed by TV cameras, fi led suit in U.S. District Court to quash the new law’s indi- vidual mandate. Cuccinelli could have joined 13 other GOP attorneys general who also sued to stop the healthcare law. Instead, he made the case that a newly enacted Virginia law forbids the federal government from forc- ing citizens to buy health insurance, creating an “immediate, actual con- troversy” that gives the state a unique opportunity to sue.
The case winded its way up to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond and is likely to land ulti- mately at the U.S. Supreme Court. The High Court is expected to issue its ruling next June in the middle of the 2012 presidential campaign — a politically risky scenario for which Cuccinelli says Republicans should already be preparing.
“Part of the discussion will be, Alright, let’s say we win. What are you guys going to do?” he says. “If people who have been up on Capitol Hill railing against this thing don’t have their own healthcare plan to drop the next day, the president might benefi t politically. But I’ve talked to a lot of those people, and they’re ready.”
Like many tea party activists, Cuccinelli does little to dilute his disdain for the Obama administra- tion. “They have no respect for the law, no respect for the Constitution, no respect for the states. And no respect for the courts, he says.”
L
ast month, Cuccinelli, a Catholic who home-schooled his seven children and attended Gonzaga College High School in Washington D.C., drew criticism when he advised about 250 pastors at a breakfast that they are legally entitled — indeed, some might say, obliged — to be politically engaged. “Whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, a libertarian or an inde- pendent, your becoming a pastor didn’t negate your right to participate in political conversation,” Cuccinelli told
the group,
according to prepared remarks. “When you became a pastor, you didn’t leave your First Amendment rights at the door. Continue to be good shepherds to your congregations — and don’t be afraid when your shepherd- ing includes giving
general are the last line of defense when there are no principle protectors of the Constitution.
“ Attorneys
guidance on issues that fall in the political world . . . let your voice be heard. Speak out and guide your fl ock toward what is right.” Stephen Shannon, D-Va., a lawyer who served with Cuccinelli in the state legislature and also ran against him for attorney general in 2009, says Cuccinelli’s style may make good politics. But, he says, it makes for “lousy policy.”
“The model of playing base poli- tics is that you take particular issues and try to identify voters, either con- servative or liberal, to kowtow to,” Shannon said in an interview. “You remind them, over and over, that you’re their guy, so when there’s a primary fi ght, they remember you.
for 2012? Do you remember? I don’t. Ergo, it doesn’t matter. It’s fl attering, but I don’t put much stock in it.” Perhaps. But those who know Cuccinelli well say he has long been a master of the game.
’’
If you attended a Gonzaga football game in the early 1980s, you’d have noticed the team mascot, the Eagle beating an enormous drum and lead- ing the team cheers.
Gonzaga’s Eagle, plumed and festooned with an enormous beak, would wear a loud purple-and-white body suit.
As the crowd roared, the Eagle paraded across the fi eld, fl ashing a showman’s bravado and gusto. The Eagle? It was Ken Cuccinelli.
SEPTEMBER 2011 / NEWSMAX 17
“[Conservatives] want to see him give a good whooping, and he wants to get conservatives whipped up. It makes sense in a primary. But from a policy perspective, it ignores the sensible center.” One of those “whipped-up con- servatives” is Jamie Radtke, head of the Virginia Federation of Tea Party Patriots, who’s challenging for- mer Sen. George Allen for the GOP Senate nomination in 2012. “Ken doesn’t play politics at the margins,” says Radtke. “He realiz- es that there’s a more fundamental question in this country, which is, Do we still believe in a constitutional government? That’s something peo- ple appreciate. “They want you to stand and gov- ern on principle, not just because you have an ‘R’ next to your name or because your party leaders tell you to do so.”
Cuccinelli shrugs off speculation that he’s poised to play on the national stage — perhaps even as early as 2016. “Those sorts of things come and go,” he says. “Who did peo- ple talk about in 2005
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