To the Editor:
Within one month, Virginians will head to the polls to elect another governor. The choice is clear. One candidate has no experience in public office and is a partisan operative, while Ken Cuccinelli has dedicated his life to public service by serving as a delegate and as the commonwealth’s highest legal authority, attorney general. Ken worked to improve K-12 public education, took a personal interest in releasing an innocent man from serving 27 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, and protected women on Virginia’s college campuses.
While Ken’s opponent has no record to run on, and requires on the job training, he does pride himself on being a businessman. Virginians don't need a governor whose business plan is modeled after the failed GreenTech debacle.
Acknowledging his lack of a record, Ken’s opponent has resorted to personal attacks on Ken’s character. In a state where young women may be expelled from school if they take a Tylenol or Advil, Ken’s support of parental notification and a waiting period for minors when considering an abortion is both responsible and reasonable. Furthermore, because Ken cares about the health and safety of all women, he has followed the Virginia Board of Health’s recommendation to require women’s health care clinics to maintain the same health and safety standards as other outpatient surgical hospitals. While people may disagree on women’s issues, Ken has served and protected all the citizens of Virginia in his role as attorney general. We need this same common sense approach in our next governor.
Finally, with the recent shutdown in Washington, we need a governor who can reach across party lines and govern. The partisan attacks and intolerant rhetoric from Ken’s opponent leaves little doubt that he is incapable of being bipartisan. Ken has a record of working with both Republicans and Democrats, and I expect he will continue conducting himself in this same manner when he is elected governor.
Alice Butler-Short,
Lorton