WaPo Warns of 'Far Right' Ken Cuccinelli, But Virginia's Democrat Stars Are 'Centrists'

The Washington Post's undisguised loathing for conservative Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is on display again Tuesday. Post reporter Anita Kumar put him on the "far right" and questioned the propriety (and even the constitutionality) of his working relationship with other Republicans in Richmond. 

Kumar began by noting a list of Cuccinell's "controversial" legal opinions, that "police could check the immigration status of those stopped by law-enforcement officers, that the state could impose stricter oversight of clinics that perform abortions and that local governments could allow religious holiday displays on public property.  In each instance, the request for the opinion came from the same person: Del. Robert G. Marshall (Prince William), a like-minded Republican who shares Cuccinelli's far-right views."

Kumar obviously asked it this "symbiotic relationship" was unconstitutional legal activism that goes around the legislature:

Observers say their relationship has become symbiotic -- one that helps each promote themselves and advance their interests -- but in a way no one envisioned before.

"It's not unconstitutional,'' said A.E. Dick Howard, a law professor at the University of Virginia and one of the drafters of the modern Virginia Constitution. "It's just not contemplated. It's outside what the framers of the Constitution would have seen."

Democrats, who hold narrow control of the state Senate, accuse the pair of attempting to make an end run around a divided General Assembly, which had already considered -- and rejected -- similar proposals regarding abortion and immigration.

"It circumvents the people's elected representation," Sen. R. Edward Houck (D-Spotsylvania) said. "It seems to me perfectly obvious what's going on. They are now using this legal activism."

Notice the Post has no labels for the Democrats. Kumar ends with a liberal legislator (no label, just a Cuccinelli opponent):

Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D-Arlington), who often opposed Cuccinelli in the Senate, said she predicts that the General Assembly will try to stop his actions through bills and amendments when the legislature returns in January.

"It's an element of checks and balances,'' she said.

The completely politicized Post is obviously nervous that Cuccinelli will seek the governor's office or challenge their heartthrob Sen. Jim Webb in 2012. Kumar isn't looking to put any Democrat on the "far left" in Virginia, or even describe them as liberal.

On the American Conservative Union scale, Webb has an average score of 14. Sen. Mark Warner has a 24. But Kumar sold Warner as a "pro-business centrist" even while he raised taxes.

Earlier, on Cuccinelli: