Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli once called Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney “Democrat light” and refused to endorse George Allen, the heavy favorite in this year’s GOP Senate primary. But Cuccinelli is now working vigorously on behalf of both candidates.
In the wake of President Obama’s recent two-day campaign blitz of Virginia, Cuccinelli emerged as an advocate for Romney in a state that Republicans are desperate to win. Cuccinelli bashed Obama on Romney’s behalf ahead of the president’s trip, and on Monday, Romney tapped Cuccinelli — not his Virginia campaign chairman, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, or popular Gov. Bob McDonnell — to relaunch attacks against Obama for doling out millions of tax dollars to failed companies like Solyndra.
It’s a stark reversal from six months ago, when Cuccinelli walked away from a presidential debate he co-hosted very critical of Romney. Romney’s defense of health care reforms he implemented as governor of Massachusetts and his claims that they differed from Obama’s federal reforms “doesn’t make sense,” Cuccinelli said.
“When he made his statements, I was struck by what a proudly ‘Democrat light’ position it was,” Cuccinelli said in an email to supporters.
Cuccinelli’s positions on issues like health care reform have won him a loyal following among conservatives, who have been distrustful of Romney. But Cuccinelli insists he doesn’t have to compromise those conservative principles to support Romney now. Indeed, just hours after talking to reporters in support of Romney, Cuccinelli railed against new state regulations on abortion providers because they didn’t go far enough.
“This is a two-person choice. Gov. Romney is the only candidate who will make focusing on the economy his first priority,” Cuccinelli said. “I don’t have to sacrifice anything to campaign for Gov. Romney.”
Cuccinelli had also kept his distance from Allen until after Allen defeated three Tea Party candidates in a primary.
Last week, Cuccinelli came to Allen’s aid by blasting his Democratic opponent, Tim Kaine, over Kaine’s decision as governor to send convicted murderer Jens Soering back to his native Germany, despite public calls for Soering to serve his two life sentences in a Virginia jail. A Richmond judge last week backed the overturning of Kaine’s recommendation, effectively ordering Soering to remain in a Virginia prison.
Cuccinelli’s embrace of Romney and Allen could pay dividends for Cuccinelli in 2013, when he runs for governor against a party favorite, Bolling, in a potentially divisive primary.
But Republicans are hoping Cuccinelli’s emergence on the campaign trail will help unite the party this fall.
“It’s certainly beneficial to the healing process and developing support for Mitt Romney and George Allen,” said Mark Daugherty, chairman of the Virginia Federation of Tea Party Patriots. “And Tea Party folks will probably join that parade at various times between here and election day.”
