I have long argued that GOP gubernatorial candidate has always wanted Virginia taxpayers to be forced to help underwrite his campaign, hence his refusal to resign as attorney general as has it been the tradition in Virginia for decades. Cuccinelli has wanted to draw a full time salary while working part time at best. A new analysis of his schedule confirms that he has been campaigning - 74% of the time - more than he has been working - a mere 26% of the time. The Virginian Pilot has details. Here are highlights:
That same-day juxtaposition - attorney general in the morning, candidate in the afternoon - shows seesawing commitments that lately have tipped the balance of Cuccinelli's campaign.
A Virginian-Pilot analysis of Cuccinelli's office and campaign schedules for July, August and part of September suggests he has spent more time on the trail than behind his desk while earning a $150,000 annual state salary, plus health benefits for his nine-member family.
According to the schedules, he was in his office seven of 22 work days in July, four of 22 days in August, and just three of nine the first two weeks of September. That equates to roughly 26 percent of the total work days over that period.
Remaining attorney general while seeking higher office has given Cuccinelli a platform, but also been a nagging campaign issue, as evidenced by his physical absences.
The campaign also has been hampered by the gift scandal orbiting Cuccinelli and his office, as well as its role in a legal dispute between Southwest Virginia landowners and energy companies over natural gas payments. Those episodes allowed critics to cry conflict, charges Cuccinelli could have more easily avoided if he'd left office, and undercut an argument that McAuliffe is unscrupulous.
His decision proved a boon for Virginia Democrats already loaded to hit Cuccinelli for his views on gay rights, abortion and climate change, all demonstrated during his high-profile tenure as attorney general. They have hounded him since January to resign - a state tradition followed by the six prior attorneys general who ran for governor - and they gained ammunition when he stayed.
Cuccinelli is a self-centered extremist (a trait he shares with his supporters at The Family Foundation) and it sounds like he needs to return a huge chunk of his pay check back to Virginia tax payers.
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