Not sure what office Virginia's radical rightwing Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is planning to run for -- Senate, governor, VP -- but whatever it is, he's setting himself up for it.
From TPM:
Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia's far-right attorney general, has launched a political action committee to bolster his influence within state politics.
"Liberty Now" is designed to "support the efforts of Ken Cuccinelli in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and to elect Republicans to non-federal offices in the Commonwealth of Virginia," according to a filing made by the organization with the IRS last month.
John Selph, a political consultant who is listed on the filing as treasurer, confirmed the PAC's existence to TPMmuckraker, and referred questions about it to another member of Cuccinelli's political team, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cuccinelli recently launched an online petition in opposition to the health-care reform law, entitled "Stop The Mandate, Support Liberty Now."
Since being elected last fall, Cuccinelli has built a profile as an extreme conservative. He has moved to stop Virginia's universities from banning anti-gay discrimination -- prompting Gov. Bob McDonnell, himself a conservative Republican, to issue a statement affirming that workplace discrimination is illegal. And he has launched a lawsuit on behalf of the state -- separate from the suit brought by 13 other state attorneys general -- challenging the constitutionality of health-care reform.
"Ken was a Tea Partier before there was a Tea Party," one Virginia Republican told the New York Times.
So -- Cooch has formed a PAC that will pass money to folks who are running for "non-federal offices in the Commonwealth of Virginia." This sounds as though he's building up a base of people who will owe him when he runs for a VA office -- Senator or Governor.
Senator Jim Webb (D,VA) is a likely target -- he won in 2006 by 0.5 percent and must run in 2012. Cooch could go after Webb because (1) Webb's a Democrat, (2) Webb voted for "Obamacare; and, (3) Cooch is a real American.
Cooch moved into the AG's office and hit the ground running to shore up his credentials with the "base." He issued a letter to state colleges and universities, telling them that there is no state law to support their anti-discrimination policies that protect gays. He plans to sue the feds over health insurance reform and is supporting legislation to shield Virginians from mandated health insurance. This PAC no doubt is part of his strategy to support his next move.