Brownlee Falling For Kilgoreism

TC contributor Loudoun Insider once again is out ahead of the pack attacking Ken Cuccinelli over the triggerman rule.  It continues to show what a strange, and I think desperate, campaign that Brownlee is waging.  He and his "ilk" are claiming that Ken is too conservative for a general election, but on nearly every issue Brownlee is running to Ken's right.  So Ken is too conservative for the general but Brownlee is a better candidate because he is more conservative? 

The latest smear against Ken is funny because every thing that they claim Cuccinelli is, a right-winger who has no room for nuance or thoughtful application of independence to an issue, is proven wrong.  Here is the DCPost story:

"This would be the biggest expansion since we began utilizing [capital punishment] since 1976," Cuccinelli said.

Cuccinelli, who is a patent attorney, said juries could be too easily swayed by the heat of a capital prosecution, overlooking nuances of guilt to punish someone whose intent was perhaps ambiguous. "More than anything else, it will catch people in a robbery gone bad," Cuccinelli said.

If 2005 proved anything to Republicans, that running on the issue of the death penalty will not win Northern Virginia.  But I accept both sides of the argument on this issue.  While some might claim that Steve Shannon will slam Cuccinelli with this in the general, I doubt it.  Not sure Steve Shannon wants to run around NOVA telling people he's stronger on the death penalty than a right-wing Republican.  But for Brownlee, its so amateur to watch what is going on here.  You don't think the Democrats and Shannon won't hammer Brownlee on this death penalty issue?

Brownlee's campaign is suffering from the same mania that engulfed the Kilgore campaign . . . and true ignorance towards how Virginia has changed.  Some of these old issues like the death penalty just don't work like this.  Brownlee is hoping that the rest of the state party is as dumb as he is to believe that we can run statewide cheer leading the death penalty.  

And then there is a moral issue.  The death penalty should not be something we celebrate, it should not be something we consistently push for an expansion without thinking about it.  Ken's caution in his last statement, getting caught up in a robbery gone bad, is correct.  Taking a human life is serious business and we have to make sure its applied honestly and applied to those who truly deserve it.  Brownlee comes at it from a US Attorney's perspective and I can understand how he thinks it helps, but does it really help society to put someone to death because of an accident or a robbery gone bad?  

I guess the new campaign slogan for John Brownlee is this:

JOHN BROWNLEE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL:  HE'LL KILL MORE PEOPLE!

Comments

[Nick Howard]

I had the same thoughts. The thought that the triggerman rule should be a determining factor in the race for AG is laughable.

I'm also sick of the incessant repeating of how the AG is "top cop." The press release today from McDonnell said, referring to Mims, "he will run the Commonwealth's law firm with honor."

And the AG's office release had this quote from Mims, "The Office of the Attorney General is the law firm for Virginia ’s governmental agencies. I am proud to work with such dedicated public servants."

No mention of being top cop and locking up bad guys.

[Cary Nunnally]

I believe that as Attorney General of VA, Cuccinelli will represent the people, too...not just the politicians. More now than ever and getting increasingly more urgent is the need for politicians to represent the folks who pay the bills.

[Isophorone]

Thanks for this. Excellent points! I linked.

[Simon Oliver Lockwood]

I don't agree with the 'triggerman' rule. And I don't have much sympathy for those caught up in a 'robbery gone bad.' But Brownlee is a blithering fool for making this an issue. The party should not give its nomination to someone who shows such a complete lack of political sense.

[Still supporting Foster, but...]

I am not a big fan of Ken Cucinelli. However, I think he hit the right problem with the particulars before him - there is a potential for confusing juries as to intent in an already complicated bit o' prosecution.

My own personal opposition to capital punishment in nearly all circumstances aside, I got some respect for Cooch from his ability to find the problem.

That Brownlee doesn't see the same problem lowers my opinion of him. I agree that Brownlee is a "blithering fool" to make such a big deal (ref: SOL post above).

I'm still favoring Foster. But Cooch has edged out Brownlee now in my book. I don't judge AG candidates by politics alone. I've got to consider their legal judgment and their sense of justice as well as how they appeal popularly.

Btw, b/c I am anti-death penalty in most cases, I felt dirty voting for Kilgore. I really did. I wished he had never been so foolish as to run those ads in NoVA. I'm closer to Kaine on that issue. It made me have to really, really weigh the candidates in a matchup where I shouldn't have had to feel such a need to question the GOP.

[James]

Maybe I am missing something, but doesn't the sentence, "Cuccinelli, who is a patent attorney . . ." kinda end the discussion. We all know the AG is more than a prosecutor, but he is the state's top prosecutor and the person who goes before our highest courts and asks that the death penalty be imposed. If the GOP nominates a patent lawyer who votes with the Dems on the triggerman issue to be AG, should we expect to win? I mean, why would any normal citizen vote for Cuccinelli when they can vote for Shannon who is a prosecutor and voted against his own Governor on the triggerman issue. Cuccinelli's been a strong senator, but it seems to me we are asking the average voter to vote in a way that just doesn't make much sense. Brownlee, on the other hand, has been a United States Attorney and a military veteran. His resume and record is almost perfectly written for the AG post. I don't understand why the party wouldn't jump at the chance to nominate him.

[Nick Howard]

James - you say the AG goes before the highest courts and asks for the death penalty. Answer this for me then, when was the last time the AG prosecuted a case?