VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli declines AARP/League of Women Voters public debate

How does a savvy, yet unsavory, elected official avoid public debates against his or her political opponent in an upcoming political ‘contest’? Make the forum/group that is hosting the public debate out to be on the side of your political opponent or simply write them off as outside of mainstream politics.

If any of these were your answers to the question above, then you must have read the playbook of Virginia’s Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, who missed the deadline to publicly speak at a scheduled League of Women Voters and AARP Virginia forum. Not only did Cuccinelli miss the deadline to RSVP for the forum, he also felt the need to label the speaking engagement as a “left wing, stacked debate” on Monday (when did the AARP fall into the “left wing” camp…). Cuccinelli said, "Oh, the left wing, stacked debate. Well, you've got MSNBC as the proposed folks running it."

That is, the forum would not be an ideal setting for Cuccinelli to go on verbal rampages against wide swaths of Virginian’s who don’t see the world through Cuccinelli’s lenses.

Assuming for the moment that Cuccinelli is correct in his conclusion that the forum is a “left wing, stacked debate,” wouldn’t his presence alleviate some of the far-right stigma that screams every time Cuccinelli opens his mouth? This image, however, appears to be exactly what Cuccinelli is attempting to further cultivate and maintain.

Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic Party candidate for governor, did agree to speak at the event.

So far, both candidates have only agreed to two public debates together, one in late July at The Homestead Resort and another this fall in Northern Virginia. What this likely means in terms of campaign content is a whole lot of public tongue-lashing and back-and-forths via the TV cameras, radio, and Internet.

Exhibit A: "And for my opponent to try and cherry-pick who's running the debate as opposed to simply getting around and getting in front of Virginians all over the commonwealth and to address their local concerns, I think is just very inappropriate," Cuccinelli stated.

I have a brilliant idea for our stellar attorney general: how about actually laying out your policy proposals and vision for Virginia rather than stating how “inappropriate” Terry McAuliffe’s actions are? I’m not in the mood to see a slugfest for the Executive Mansion  that sacrifices policy substance and real debate.