Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R), his party's gubernatorial hopeful this year, has been keenly interested in the commonwealth's anti-sodomy statute for many years, and for whatever reason, he just can't seem to let it go.
As we discussed in the spring, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals recently rejected Virginia's anti-sodomy law as unconstitutional, prompting Cuccinelli to keep appealing, hoping to preserve the law. His efforts failed miserably.
But in a curious twist, Cuccinelli, suddenly caught up in the Star Scientific/Jonnie Williams mess, has re-embraced the issue all over again.
When Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II challenged a federal appeals court ruling that deemed the state's anti-sodomy law unconstitutional, Democrats pounced, accusing the Republican of pursuing an anti-gay agenda.Now Cuccinelli's campaign for governor is looking to turn the tables on opponent Terry McAuliffe, casting it as an issue of protecting children from predators and pushing the Democratic gubernatorial nominee to take a side.
For months, the right-wing state A.G. has gone out of his way to focus voters' attention away from his culture-war agenda and towards his views on the economy. But as the polls turn against him, Cuccinelli has apparently decided being the champion of an anti-sodomy law is the new key to electoral success.
As for the substance, the Republican is relying on a cheap ploy -- to question the anti-sodomy law, the argument goes, is to be indifferent towards children targeted by predators. Of course, as Ed Kilgore explained, "Opponents of the sodomy law have been quick to make the obvious point that it's not that hard to craft and enforce anti-predators laws that don't criminalize behavior between consenting adults. So I don't know what Cooch's strategy is here, unless it's to start shouting about sexual predators every time the subject comes up and then pivot to his plans to make Virginia a job-creators paradise."
Rachel will have more on developments in Virginia on tonight's show.