Cuccinelli Shakes Up the Role of the Attorney General
Suzy Khimm reports:
Perhaps you remember Breastgate: Back in April, Virginia's newly elected Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli apparently decided that the state-issued lapel pins worn by his staff were a little too libertine. The pins—which replicated the 1776 state seal (PDF)—featured Virtus, the Roman goddess of bravery and military prowess, with her left breast exposed. Cuccinelli requested a new version that covered up the warrior's bosom. Virtus, he joked to his staff, was now "a little more virtuous."
The move set off a firestorm, complete with comparisons to John Ashcroft's purchase of $8,000 drapes to cover up the Justice Department's classical statues. But Cuccinelli remained unfazed—in fact, throughout his first year in office, he's clearly relished his role as a political lightning rod. He's one of a group of crusading lawyers who've helped transform the state attorney general's office—a position once considered a bureaucratic backwater—into a launching pad for ideological warfare.
