Politics & Government

Cuccinelli Blasts Obamacare, Doesn't Use McAuliffe's Name

During a stop in Loudoun County with fellow attorneys general, the Republican candidate looks past opponents and campaigns against the president.

By Dusty Smith

While Democrats have attempted to focus on Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s conservative roots in the Virginia gubernatorial race, Cuccinelli seems to be looking right through Terry McAuliffe, setting his sights on the Affordable Health Care Act commonly called "Obamacare." Both men also face Libertarian Robert Sarvis, who the big party candidates have essentially ignored.

During a packed rally Monday at Cuccinelli’s campaign office in Sterling, attorneys general from four other states joined the Republican nominee in bashing the health care law and vowing to undo it. Cuccinelli called it an infringement on states rights and a “national embarrassment,” while another attorney general called the law “unconstitutional,” despite it being upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Cuccinelli also called on Obama to fire Health and Human Services Sec. Kathleen Sebelius because of a poorly functioning website set up to register people for the new health care exchange established by the law.

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The name McAuliffe was uttered few times, if any at all.

“We’ve been fighting truly for years against this federal government and its overreach,” Cuccinelli said, saying Obama has “illegally” waived elements of it and exempted big business. “This law is crumbling before our eyes.”

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Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said that while politicians in Washington, DC, have been stuck in gridlock, “the real action’s going on in the state capitals,” adding that Virginia needs someone guided by conservative principles like Cuccinelli.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey pointed out that his state separated from Virginia during the Civil War and that the states should unite over the Affordable Health Care Act, calling it “unconstitutional” and pointing to the problems with its implementation.

“That’s not a train wreck, that’s a recipe for disaster,” Morrisey said, calling Cuccinelli a national hero for his fights against the health care law and the Environmental Protection Agency – which Cuccinelli called the Employment Prevention Agency – among others.

Loudoun County Chairman Scott K. York (R-At Large) came as close as anyone to naming McAuliffe, clearly labeling him an outsider.

“Unlike the other guy who probably spent barely three days in Virginia, Ken is a Virginian,” York said. “We don’t need Obama-lite.”

Only Sarvis was born in the commonwealth. (Cuccinelli was born in New Jersey and McAuliffe was born in New York.)

The Democratic Party of Virginia criticized Cuccinelli for appearing with Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange.

"Ken Cuccinelli has made it clear that he cares more about his reputation with the extreme Tea Party Republicans than supporting the safety and the economic well-being of women and families across Virginia," said DPVA spokesman Brian Coy, in a prepared statement. "Instead of working to increase opportunities for Virginia women, Ken Cuccinelli is doubling down on his opposition to the Violence Against Women Act by appearing with another extreme Attorney General Luther Strange."


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