The ‘Cooch’ Is Losing: Anti-Sodomy Not Such a Great Campaign Issue After All?

The Republican party might be wise to look at Virginia as a microcosm of the obstacles facing the party as a whole. In recent elections, Virginia has shifted from being reliably red to electing Barack Obama. Twice. And yet, in spite of this, the Virginia GOP has chosen this cycle to double down on far-right conservatism. Let’s see how that’s playing out, shall we?

The polls show it. The shakeup in his campaign staff confirms it. Republican Ken Cuccinelli is losing Virginia’s gubernatorial race…

Cuccinelli isn’t coming across as very likable or relatable. Opinionated? Yes. Experienced? Yes (voters say he’s got enough government service). But how does he do on the critical question of whether voters believe he really cares, if you will, about people like them (the key question on which Mitt Romney lost, 80 percent to 20 percent, against Obama)? Poorly.

The above quote, by the way, is from Washington Post columnist and noted GOP fangirl Jennifer Rubin. For a conservative, when Jennifer Rubin has written you off you know you’re in trouble. So what has brought the Ken ‘ The Cooch’ Cuccinelli campaign to this point? Well, simply put: Ken Cuccinelli.

The issues most vigorously pursued by Cuccinnelli as a state legislator and attorney general are not the issues of primary concern to Virginia voters, especially not those urban voters most responsible for turning the state purple.

In fact, Cuccinelli seems more interested in positioning himself as a severe conservative on the national stage than anything. A look at his record:

• Attempt to defund Planned Parenthood? Check √
• Smear comprehensive sex education? Check  √
• Promote “personhood” legislation to outlaw many forms of contraception? Check  √
• Declaring President Obama a tyrant? Check  √
• Slam Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as an evil Democrat plan to buy votes? Check  √
• Prevent same-sex couples from adopting? Check  √
• Challenging the affordable Care Act in court? Check  √  (Bonus points for filing 5 minutes after the law was signed.)
• Actively seek to enforce an out-dated and unconstitutional anti-sodomy law? Check  √  (Bonus points for defying the U.S. Supreme Court in the process.)

So yeah, it looks like Ken Cuccinelli is all set to be the second coming of Rick Santorum. But how does this help the Virginia Republican party? It doesn’t. And at this point, it looks highly unlikely to be helping the Cooch, either.

The latest poll, from Quinnipiac, shows what’s really going on… Cuccinelli’s favorability ratio has gone from 35/41 to 34/51, with only 13% needing to know more about the steely opponent of abortion rights, “sodomy,” and health care reform.

I don’t know if this is a product of McAuliffe’s ads, which (in NoVa at least) have focused on Cooch’s atavistic position on women’s rights, or just a gradually dawning realization that this guy makes incumbent Gov. Bob McDonnell—whom Cooch semi-openly despises as a RINO—look dreamy from a swing voter’s perspective.

But we’ll stay tuned and see how this turns out. Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe is far from a galvanizing figure on the left. Still, the prospect of ousting Cuccinelli from statewide office may be all the incentive needed to turn out the Democratic vote in November.

By: Sandi Behrns

Sandi Behrns is a noted policy nerd, new media & web developer, and consultant to progressive organizations and campaigns. She is a senior contributor to Liberaland, and the Executive Editor of Progressive Congress News.