AG candidates boast different visions

The usually tepid Virginia attorney general’s race is anything but in 2009.

Two articulate candidates offer differing philosophies and visions:

Republican Ken Cuccinelli pledges limited government, a robust conservatism and a tough approach to criminal justice. Democrat Steve Shannon vows he’ll focus on keeping Virginians safe, cracking down on drunk drivers, Internet predators and the encroachment of gangs.

Cuccinelli plans to fight for Virginia’s right-to-work law and constitutional state sovereignty rights, protect Old Dominion’s marriage amendment and do away with unneeded regulations.

“There is an extremely wide array of responsibility. You are general counsel for an 100,000-employee entity,” Cuccinelli said, referring to the attorney general’s role as lawyer for the state.

Shannon said he sees the job as narrower and far less political. Cuccinelli, he said, would take a partisan approach.

A delegate from Fairfax County, Shannon said his two years as a Fairfax prosecutor gave him experience on felony crimes against children and the prosecution of rapists, pedophiles, drunken drivers and embezzlers.

That background, Shannon said, gives him a distinct edge.

Cuccinelli, a three-term Fairfax senator, never has been a prosecutor but contends he has other relevant experience and more of it, including management of his own law firm and a background in constitutional law.

He also has served as a court-appointed attorney for indigent defendants and a member of Senate Courts of Justice Committee.

“I have criminal justice experience. He thinks two years as a prosecutor ought to trump everything,” Cuccinelli said.

Cuccinelli said Shannon could not even name the seven divisions under the attorney general during a recent debate.

“Part of the reason we asked that question was to demonstrate that the office reaches beyond the criminal division,” said Cuccinelli.

In response, Shannon said, “perhaps if Ken spent a little less time playing ‘gotcha’ games he would have offered a plan to keep Virginians safe by now.

“While he is content to discuss the bureaucracy and push his personal political agenda, I am going to be talking about the issues that matter to Virginians, like making our communities safer by cracking down on drug dealers, gang leaders and Internet predators who target our kids.”

Shannon has produced detailed plans for cracking down on drunk drivers, curbing the state’s increasing gang problem and stronger accountability in government.

He said that emphasis paints another clear distinction between him and Cuccinelli.

“I will focus on the law enforcement role and he believes some of the role should be on cultural issues,” Shannon said. “That is not as important as DUIs, gangs and sexual predators.”

Cuccinelli said Shannon is focusing on one part of the job. Cuccinelli fully expects constitutional challenges if elected, including the threat of federal card-check legislation to Virginia’s right-to-work law.

Critics charge that the card-check bill could end secret ballots in union elections — a provision that could be scrapped — and would tilt collective bargaining unreasonably in unions’ favor.

Cuccinelli is prepared to enforce the Tenth Amendment’s state sovereignty provision to protect the right-to-work law.

He also will file friend-of-court briefs to protect Virginia’s marriage amendment from constitutional challenges elsewhere in the country.

The candidates also have clashed on other high profile issues, including the case of Hampton Roads Del. Phil Hamilton, and the state’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court Melendez-Diaz case.

The House Ethics Committee is investigating Hamilton for potential conflict of interest over his securing $500,000 for an Old Dominion University teaching center and landing a $40,000 teaching contract for himself at the center.

Shannon already has called for Hamilton’s resignation, saying that if he witnesses a breach of public trust, “I will call it out.”

Cuccinelli said Hamilton’s case can be dismissed, referred to the full House or to the attorney general for an investigation, which could involve prosecution.

He said Shannon’s statements show he is already prejudiced in the case.

“If he were elected and the matter were referred to the attorney general,” Cuccinelli said, “he would have to recuse himself.”

Shannon responded by saying “Ken and I are running for attorney general, not judge. As the top law enforcement officer in the state, the attorney general is obliged to stand up to public corruption when he or she sees it, even if it means standing up to a political ally. Ken has already called on Hamilton to leave the House Appropriations Committee. The right thing to do would be to join the entire statewide ticket and ask him to resign.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell made that call shortly after the Hamilton scandal broke.

Cuccinelli said he was the first legislator to call for a special session to deal with issues related to the Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling, which determined it a violation of the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause to require defendants to call lab technicians as witnesses.

The result was that prosecutors were barred from simply relying on crime lab reports; instead technicians had to be made available to testify. That triggered a series of prosecution losses because of a time crunch for technicians.

Both Shannon and Cuccinelli oppose the ruling, but clash over their response to it.

Cuccinelli said he called for a special session of the General Assembly to figure out how to deal with the change, and Shannon then termed that move a political stunt.

Shannon disagreed, saying he discussed the case with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and also advised the governor to hold a special session.

“He and the governor are trying to go back and rewrite history,” Cuccinelli said.

While Cuccinelli has consistently led the race in recent weeks, Shannon has advertised on television heavily with his public safety message, particularly in the Washington, D.C., market.