Are Va. Republicans Making a Primary Error?

RICHMOND

In the increasingly blue Virginia, it is no longer common, or considered politically safe, for statewide candidates to tout their conservative credentials.

But that's exactly what this year's Republican candidates for attorney general are doing.

The three Republicans -- John Brownlee, state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II (R-Fairfax) and David M. Foster -- are out to prove they are more conservative than their rivals as they campaign across the state.

Brownlee is a former top prosecutor for Virginia's western district. Foster is a former chairman of the Arlington County School Board. The three will compete for the Republican nomination at the state GOP convention next month.

They talk about bedrock conservative issues -- abortion, the sanctity of marriage and guns -- that their party's leaders, Republican gubernatorial nominee Robert F. McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, have largely shunned.

"When it comes to being a conservative, I'm rock solid,'' Brownlee told the crowd at a recent candidates forum in Williamsburg.

"I'm a down-the-line conservative,'' Cuccinelli said. "Everybody says they are conservative when they want to win the nomination. I'm the only candidate in this race that you don't have to believe. You can go look at my record."

Foster told the same crowd that he approaches government with "common-sense conservative solutions to real problems."

About 8,000 to 10,000 Republican activists will gather in Richmond on May 30 to pick their party's nominees for attorney general and lieutenant governor, and to officially nominate the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. Historically, in the contested races, the participants almost always nominate the most conservative candidate.

Efforts to appeal to the activists could create complications for the eventual nominee, who has to run in all regions of the state, including Northern Virginia, where Democrats have been on a winning streak in recent elections.

Some Republicans blame conventions for the spate of recent losses in Virginia. Others complain that strong moderate candidates, such as former U.S. representative Tom Davis, do not run statewide because they know they cannot compete at a convention.