According to the Washington Post:Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) will reveal his plans next week to run for governor in 2013, according to well-placed Republican sources.Cuccinelli, a tea party hero who garnered national attention for suing the federal government over the new health-care law, expects to make a formal announcement after the legislative session in the spring, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could speak freely about his plans.The fact that a homophobic, science-denying, extreme social conservative is highly like to be the Republicans 2013 nominee for governor, that's all the more reason for Virginia Democrats to get their act together ASAP. The fact is, as crazy as Kookinelli is, he's a strong politician who should never be underestimated. Clearly, that means we'll need to be as strong as possible heading into 2013. Unless, of course, the thought of "Governor Cuccinelli" isn't enough to light a fire under all of our butts. If that's the case, though, frankly, then we're far beyond hope.Along these lines, another thing we will need to figure out pretty soon is who our ticket will be in 2013. Assuming T-Mac's at the top - and that's not 100% guarantee (either that he'll run, or necessarily that he'd win the nomination, although he's certainly the strong favorite), who will be the LG and AG candidates? I'd argue for strong progressives from the "urban/suburban crescent," candidates who can really fire up our base. I think it's fair to assume that their base will be excited having a Tea Partier at the top of their ticket. What are we going to do to counter that? And, as always, the gubernatorial election will be a battle of bases, so let's definitely have no "Deeds Country" idiocy this time around, please! P.S. Oh, and as for Bill Bolling, the only question is how badly he'll lose to Cuccinelli, given the latter's popularity among the far, far-right-wingnuts who dominate Virginia Republicans' nominating process. |