Cuccinelli to quiz GOP presidential candidates

This may actually be a presidential debate worth watching:

[Virginia Attorney General Ken] Cuccinelli, with the Republican attorneys general of Florida and Oklahoma, will be a panelist for a Fox News-sponsored forum among GOP presidential hopefuls on Dec. 3 in New York City.

It’s a debate about federalism, the concerns of states and, yes, that means Obamacare will likely be at the heart of the discussion.

Cuccinelli said the format will provide a better opportunity than in typical debate formats to test candidates’ knowledge of the issues and their positions because it will allow follow-up questions by people with greater expertise than media representatives.

That’s setting the bar rather low — though, truth be told, I’ve had experiences with attorneys general in the past that made me wonder whether they could find their backsides with both hands.

Nevertheless, this cross-examination ought to be very illuminating, particularly considering that Cuccinelli has yet to endorse anyone in the presidential sweepstakes. But from an interview Scott Lee conducted with him a few weeks ago on “The Score” radio show, we do have a sense of what he’s looking for in a candidate:

We shouldn’t be looking for a “nice guy.” Instead, Cuccinelli suggested,” we should look for someone who is an intellectual conservative,” whose approach to a problem isn’t “what would a conservative do – because that means they aren’t really a conservative. But what is the limited government answer to the problem. And should we be doing anything, period? I want to see someone who has a track record of thinking that way. ”

The candidate who checks off those few boxes will likely get Cuccinelli’s support.

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About the author

Norman Leahy

Norm Leahy has written about Virginia and national politics online since 2002, beginning with One Man's Trash (OMT), and continuing through Bacon's Rebellion (both the blog and the e-zine), Sic Semper Tyrannis, NBC12's Decision Virginia, Richmond.com and Tertium Quids. He is the chief blogger at "The Score" and a producer of "The Score" radio show as well as being a Washington Examiner contributor.