We'll see how this plays in the Republican primary for Attorney General, where being the biggest, baddest, meanest SOB on crime is a major advantage (and where any sign of "coddling criminals" could be a death penalty...for your candidacy, that is).[State Sen. Ken "Right Ron?"] Cuccinelli is a supporter of capital punishment and has backed other measures to expand its use, including a bill this year to broaden the definition of law enforcement officers whose killing could be punished by the death penalty. Under that bill, sponsored by Del. Brenda L. Pogge (R-York), the state could seek the death penalty for any person who killed an auxiliary police officer, auxiliary sheriff's deputy, a fire marshal or an assistant fire marshal with police powers.
But Cuccinelli was the only Republican senator to vote against eliminating the triggerman rule.
Personally, I agree with Ken Cuccinelli on this one, that Virginia shouldn't be moving towards - as Cooch says - "the biggest expansion since we began utilizing [capital punishment] since 1976." However, I'm not exactly the typical Republican primary voter, so I'm not sure that supporting Tim Kaine and being "the only Republican senator to vote against eliminating the triggerman rule" is good primary politics for Cuccinelli. Unless, that is, he thinks he's pretty much got the AG nomination locked up, in which case, it's on to the general election and high time to start moving - at least a teeny bit - towards the "center." In short, this could either be a principled stance by Ken Cuccinelli (I doubt it, given his strong support for the death penalty in the past) or a calculated political move to act more like a "moderate" in an election year in which Cooch knows he'll need support from moderate, suburban voters in places like Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. That's my guess; how about you?
