Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican Attorney General behind Virginia’s suit to overturn health care reform, is already using Monday’s Obamacare ruling to raise money for future campaigns. Within hours of Judge Henry E. Hudson’s decision that the individual mandate portion of the health care law is unconstitutional, a celebratory Cuccinelli ad appeared on the Drudge Report asking supporters to sign his anti-Obamcare petition — and donate to Cuccinelli’s campaign war chest.
Since his election in 2009, Cuccinelli has become a hero in Tea Party circles, as well as a boogeyman to the left, for taking hard-line stances against health care reform, climate change research, and gay rights. His conservative crusades have garnered plenty of press attention, making him perhaps the most high profile attorney general in the country, and setting the stage for a possible gubernatorial campaign in 2013. Bob McDonnell, Virginia’s current Republican governor and former Virginia attorney general, is barred from running for re-election by term limits.