It seems that the announcement of John Brownlee resigning from his US Attorney’s position and, potentially, getting ready to run for AG has caused some folks to believe that this will be another example of NoVA (Sen. Cuccinelli) v. RoVA (Brownlee).
I, on the other hand, think far more important considerations are redistricting and running a strong candidate for AG.
First, should Sen. Cuccinelli move to AG, this almost certainly gives the seat over to Democrats, further reducing GOP numbers in the Senate to 18, and making redistricting in 2010 a very ugly affair between the Democrat-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House.
However, should Cuccinelli maintain his seat and the very wealthy, mature, ticked-off (Sen. Whipple, this is for you), and recently betrothed Sen. Colgan decide to retire, then it is possible in 2009 for the Senate to go back into REPUBLICAN CONTROL, making Lt. Gov. Bolling the tie-breaking vote on all redistricting plans in the Senate.
Second, prosecutors have always faired well as the GOP nominee for Attorney General. Brownlee is. Cuccinelli isn’t.
So, before we go all geographical…there are certainly other things for Republicans to consider.
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. 
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I am not so sure this is going to be a NOVA v. ROVA. Although Brownlee was US Attorney for the Western District for seven years, he has strong ties to NOVA. He graduated from Robsinson HS in Fairfax County and lived in Arlington when he was a local prosecutor. He also has a strong military record. I think Brownlee can get solid, if not strong, support from NOVA.
I am a born and raised Northern Virginian (McLean) and am hoping that Brownlee runs. His no nonsense, tough prosecutorial background, combined with his military service make him an attractive candidate. I think he could make some noise…
I don’t think anybody in Northern Virginia knows who John Brownlee is. Sorry, going to Robinson doesn’t equal name recognition.
Ken Cuccinelli will be our next Attorney General, and here’s why: he has a strong grassroots base, stands strong for conservative principles (when many are straying from this and painting themselves as moderate to get the vote), and he can carry ROVA, as well as NOVA.
Brownlee is known in the Roanoke area, but I do not believe that he will gain the Northern Virginia vote as much as Cuccinelli will in the convention process.
Cuccinelli is very weak in Northern Virginia and has to run for something else after his near loss in his own district against a less-than-mediocre Dem. AG provides the escape hatch. In a general election Cuccinelli, because he is fairly well known in the Northern Virginia areas surrounding his district, would be a handicap to the Republican slate in 2009. A Republican from downstate with a good resume would probably do better up here, particularly one who hails from here originally. Of course, there is little indication yet that the Dems have anyone more impressive to run for AG than they had to run against Cuccinelli last year.
They’re both excellent candidates, and both would be fantastic ticket-mates for McDonnell & Bolling. Cooch has held a senate seat in one of the liberal bastions of the state while maintaining his conservative principles. That alone speaks volumes. Besides, Cooch is a masterful politician, and he runs brilliant campaigns.
Brownlee’s resume is enough to scare any potential Democrat.
And let’s not forget Paul Harris. Any one of those three will win easily.
John Brownlee is the best candidate for AG. I have not always agreed with every case he prosecuted but he has honesty and integrity beyond reproach.
Naturally most anyone on the right would agree. But what would Jon Stewart have to say about it??