ENDORSEMENT: Cuccinelli for att. general; Bolling for lt. governor

» In both races, it’s hard to see through the mud, but the GOP fields the better set of candidates.

When it comes to the race for attorney general, both candidates are well qualified and rightly recognize the office’s primary role as promoting public safety. Democrat Steve Shannon and Republican Ken Cuccinelli would do a standup job working to protect Virginians by targeting gangs, child sex offenders, drug dealers and other scum.

And while we’d be satisfied with either man as attorney general, we give a slight edge to Cuccinelli for his proactive solutions, legal expertise, fighting disposition and (gasp!) strong conservative moorings — something the state’s Democratic strategists, to their own detriment, take joy in mocking these days.

Indeed, Shannon’s recent formula for this contest has been to paint his foe as an “ideological crusader” whose 10th Amendment interpretation and personal stance against the expansion of federal government should somehow be linked to the days of racial segregation and Civil War.

Good grief.

It seems Shannon can’t beat Cuccinelli on the issues, so he might as well try a Hail Mary. Thankfully, polls show voters aren’t falling for his last-minute, desperation heave.

» In the lieutenant governor’s race, it’s hard to sort fact from fiction: Did incumbent Republican Bill Bolling really miss all those commission meetings? Was Democrat Jody Wagner really asleep at the wheel when she “underestimated” the recession’s impact as state secretary of finance?

Neither sin really affects the two main roles of lieutenant governor: presiding over the Senate and succeeding the big cheese in case of emergency. That said, for the past four years Bolling has proven he can do the former, and his ties to GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell — who will likely be elected — make him the natural choice for the latter.