And why not -- he's white, male, super-Christian in every way, a tea party favorite, and he's from a high-profile swing state.
Cuccinelli is currently Virginia's attorney general, and he's running for governor next year.
Cuccinelli is so right-wing that he's become a national-level wingnut favorite, and has been cashing in on that in various ways.
Like being the keynote speaker for the Iowa Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner Saturday.
And doing national direct mail to the usual marks seeking monetary support for his race for governor.
Details, below.
Whenever a state-level politician travels halfway across the country to Iowa to give a speech at the state GOP's major fund-raiser, it's pretty obvious that the politician has national ambitions.
Cuccinelli's claim to national wingnut fame comes from being the first state attorney general (soon joined by 25 others) to challenge the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.
His speech to the Iowa Republicans has a Confederate flavor, naturally -- all about the overbearing federal government being challenged by valiant states-rights advocates like him.
Cuccinelli mentions that he worked, in person, for an Iowa Republican AG candidate two years ago, a sign that his national ambitions are not recent.
And Cuccinelli said that he's more interested in national politics than in doing his job:
I expect out of you all, just as I do for myself, six months of some of the hardest political work that you will ever put in in your lives.
And he's proud to be working to "stop the ball rolling from the New Deal."
Cuccinelli knows his audience, so he says that embarrassing wingnut Steve King, IA-5, is "one of of my very favorite Congressmen."
Cuccinelli is preaching to the choir at an Iowa GOP dinner, but even moreso in his direct mail piece, presumably prepared and profited by fellow Virginia wingnut Richard Viguerie.
The letter, which arrived yesterday, announces that Cuccinelli "wants you to hear directly from me" that he is running for governor.
Which he announced more than five months ago.
Cuccinelli plays the faux victim of "the White House and national left-wing groups" (bold in the original), and outlines his uber-wingnut platform:
TAXES AND SPENDING: The government must only raise the funds it needs to perform its proper, limited functions, and not a penny more. I will veto any tax hike.
JOBS: By keeping our right-to-work laws strong, holding down corporate taxes, improving our infrastructure, and protecting our economy fpr "ObamaCare" and other punishing federal regulations, I will make sure Virginia remais among America's leaders for new private sector jobs.
THE RIGHT TO LIFE: I believe unborn children are created in the image of God, and I will never stop working to pass new laws that protect the rights ofr innocent babies in the womb.
EDUCATION: We need more accountability, and fewer federal dictates written by union bosses. And we need to empower parents, not bureaucrats. My wife Teiro and I home school our kids, and I will proudly defend the rights of parents to educate their kids in accordance with their values and standards.
THE 2nd AMENDMENT: I support the rights of gun owners 100%, and I am proud of my past endorsements from the NRA. the Virginia Shooting Sports Association, and the Virginia Citizens Defense League PAC.
MARRIAGE: As long as I am governor,marriage shall be recognized in Virginia only as a union between one man and one woman -- period.
All the emphases and shouting CAPS are in the original -- it's the Viguerie way to get the few million in the wingnut base to write yet another check.
The only triple emphases are for Cuccinelli proudly (bold, italic, underlined) saying that he won't send his seven kids to public schools, or pay to send them to a conservative Christian school, because his wife home-schools the kids.
Good for him that he makes enough money from the taxpayers in VA, plus help from his wealthy family (his father was a lobbyist for the American Gas Association, and sent young Ken to a D.C. private day school that now charges about $18K a year), to have his wife do home-schooling in addition to the basic wifely duties, in the Religious Right worldview, of cooking, shopping, cleaning, laundering, obeying, etc.
Cuccinelli knows that he can only become a presidential prospect is he wins the VA governor's race in 2013.
Which will not happen if VA voters come to know the real Ken Cuccinelli.