Thanks again to all who read "the cases for" Dave Foster and Ken Cuccinelli. It has been my goal to lay out the POSITIVE case for each candidate and I hope I've done that so far.
My first comment about John Brownlee may seem a little strange but here goes. When you're around him he just seems like an Attorney General. He has a presence and mannerisms that seems perfectly suited to the job. I don't know if it's upbringing, education, Army Ranger school or something else but Brownlee just seems like an Attorney General. Brownlee is just as conservative as the other candidates but is able to present himself in a way that seems palatable across the political spectrum.
Beyond that though, he has extremely impressive credentials. The man was one of the youngest US Attorneys in the country and he performed his job with distinction. For the non-attorneys out there let me just say this is an amazing feat. That job is so high profile you have to expect a few controversial cases but the net result of his years in the position were top notch. From fighting illegal immigration, to internet predators, to violent criminals to corporate abusers - John always put the citizens of the Western District of Virginia ahead of politics.
As a lawyer, it is disappointing to me that many people treat the AG race as just another political race - it is a race to be the Commonwealth's top attorney. If you are applying the same logic to the AG race that you're applying to Gov and LG then you're missing the point. This is a very unique job. It requires running a law office, dealing with state and federal agencies, pushing a legislative agenda, dealing with the media and representing the citizens of the Commonwealth. This is exactly what Brownlee has done as US Attorney. Ask yourself - who is best suited to be the Commonwealth's top attorney and the managing partner of the 3rd largest law firm in the state?
Finally, let me comment on the main knock I hear about John. I've heard several people say "I like John but he's never been elected to anything before." That's true. But, before he was Governor, Mark Warner had never been elected before. Before he was Senator, Jim Webb had never been elected before. Before he was Attorney General, Jerry Kilgore had never been elected before. Before they were Congressmen, Bob Goodlatte, Tom Perriello and Glen Nye had never been elected before.
As you can see, most of these guys are Dems. Honestly, I think one of the main shortcomings in our party is that we have a "wait your turn" mentality to elections. I personally think it's time we stopped looking to a bench of "lesser" electeds and start spreading our net further. Let's look to business leaders, military leaders and, yes, legal leaders. Does legislative experience really translate into Attorney General qualifications? To me, the fact that Brownlee is not a current member of the General Assembly is actually a huge plus.
John Brownlee is a conservative, he is the only Republican with prosecutorial experience in the race, he has the experience to successfully perform the job of Attorney General and he has the ability to beat the likely Democratic nominee. Like I said with Foster and Cuccinelli, I hope you'll give Brownlee a serious look.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed my take on our three fine candidates for Attorney General. I've done my best to be impartial and fair. I also hope you'll join me next week on the 17th for the Attorney General Debate. It should be a lot of fun and will, in all likelihood, serve as the final piece of my analysis in choosing who I'll support.
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13 comments:
Brownlee is a natural leader, and he has the confidence that comes to lawyers as a result of successfully resolving complex, large cases. Just look at the Purdue Pharma/Oxycontin prosecution. West Virginia's AG settled for a couple million dollars, but under Brownlee's leadership, the settlement was $634million. He prosecuted ITT Corp for $100 million--once again, Brownlee's leadership was the difference. He also wants the job because he actually wants to be AG, somethingi Virginia has not seen for at least 40 years.
Bragging on Brownlee taking more money from Purdue Pharma doesn't do much for me. If fact that is the main reason I am not supporting him.
Anon 8:27 -
Do you even know what happened in Purdu Pharma?
Do you even know that PP plead GUILTY?
Do you know they admitted they broke the law?
Do you know they admitted to destroying thousands of lives?
Do you know that they AGREED to the financial penalty?
Do you that law enforcement agencies were almost fully funded off that result?
You have to be a completely unimformed moron to view that result as a bad thing. Only a member of Cuccinelli's zombie army could be so stupid and blind.
That anonymous poster sounds like one of the Cooch crazies who didn't know enforcing price gouging statutes was different than price controls. If you were at the Advance you know what I'm talking about.
It's still shocking that a candidate for AG announced he would refuse to enforce the law. I'd blame their stupidity on our public school system but all these nutjobs were homeschooled. Maybe that's the problem.
And calling me names will make me want to vote for Brownlee. Yea, who is the smart one now. I support the free markets, and companies should be able to set whatever price they want for a product.
Isn't it just great to be right. Incredible how you can tell from a single post that this guy was one of Cuccinelli's zombie army that DOESN'T BELIEVE IN ENFORCING THE LAW.
Listen, we can debate whether price gouging laws are good BUT THEY ARE THE LAW. It is unbelievable that an AG candidate would say he won't enforce the laws on the books and it's even more unbelievable that his mind numbed drone supporters go along with that as if it's a good idea.
Let me ask you this - which other laws should we expect Cuccinelli to NOT enforce? Seems like something we ought to know of our potential AG nominee. I wait anxiously for your response.
We all know Brownlee was only using that case to give get his name in the paper.
Anon 12:13 - That is, without a doubt, the dumbest comment I've ever seen in the Virginia political blogosphere.
More wackiness from the greed is good Club for Growth types. Haven't you figured out by now that your ideas have gotten us into the financial mess we're in now? And led to electoral disaster for the GOP?
I worry about Brownlee as an attorney. He graduated second from last at William and Mary. Furthermore, the major cases he tried (Knox and D-day memorial) were BOTH COMPLETE FAILURES FROM A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE. He couldnt get a conviction to save his life, and the USAttorney has a near perfect conviction rate...
Other than that he seems like a good conservative.
Why I love Cuccinelli and am voting for Brownlee:
Cuccinelli and Brownlee are great conservative Republicans. Senator Cuccinelli has works closely with our own Senator Ralph Smith. Cuccinelli has shown that he is one of the very few who can promote the conservative cause in the heavily liberal area of northern Virginia. We need to keep him in the Senate for his strong values, his hard work, and his reliable vote to help promote Republican legislation. We cannot afford the loose of another Republican Senate seat.
John Brownlee has the professional experience to become the State’s Attorney General. As Greg Habeeb pointed out in his blog, the job description for AG requires running a law office, dealing with state and federal agencies, pushing a legislative agenda, dealing with the media and representing the citizens of the Commonwealth. Brownlee has been doing that for years.
A win win for us all , would be to keep Cuccinelli in the Senate passing legislation and having Brownlee remain in his profession, attorney. When Bolling moves up as Govenor after McDonnell, Brownlee can step up as Lt Governor. It will be time for Cuccinelli to move on to AG. Another great win win for Virginia.
Anonymous
What's your source for saying he graduated "second from last" at William & Mary Law School?
"He prosecuted ITT Corp for $100 million--once again, Brownlee's leadership was the difference."
Yeah, that's a good strategy for keeping jobs in Virginia. Prosecute Virginia's few high tech manufacturing industries and extract $100 million in penalties.
According to ITT, they outsourced the manufacture of the NVG cases, not the tubes.
Granted, I'm not happy they outsourced it at all, but shaking them down for $100 mil didn't help any of the Roanoke employees now did it?
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