Formerly there were three templates available for attorney general candidates.
Run as a "tough on crime" law enforcement official, regardless of whether or not the attorney genrral had any role in law enforcement.
Run against insurance companies — home, auto, life, health, take your pick — who were setting rates so high voters were selling their first born to make premium payments.
Or run against utility companies who were setting rates so high voters were selling the remainder of their children to make premium payments.
It was a proven method for winning that let the victor get a government paycheck, garner some press, elevate name identification, while waiting to run for governor.
Recently the role of red state attorneys general has changed and changed for the better.
Smart, aggressive, conservative attorney general officeholders are no longer concentrating on intramural fights with instate bureaucrats.
Instead, these attorney generals are going on offense to rein in leftist federal bureaucrats and woke corporate paper-shufflers pushing ideology that red state voters have rejected.
We have three examples of attorneys general taking on important cultural, economic and career issues on behalf of red state voters.
The attorney generals in Indiana, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and South Carolina sent a letter to Target that The Gateway Pundit characterized as "warning that their Pride month displays may have violated state laws that 'protect children from harmful content meant to sexualize them and prohibit gender transitions of children.'"
The letter authored by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita was quite specific, "As the chief legal officers of our States, we are charged with enforcing state laws protecting children and safeguarding parental rights.
"State child-protection laws penalize the 'sale or distribution . . . of obscene matter.' A matter is considered 'obscene' if 'the dominant theme of the matter . . . appeals to the prurient interest in sex,' including ‘material harmful to minors.'
"Indiana, as well as other states, have passed laws to protect children from harmful content meant to sexualize them and prohibit gender transitions of children."
The letter then went on to explain how the display of these perverse products not only harms youth, the display also works against the interest of the company’s stockholders.
"Target’s management has no duty to fill stores with objectionable goods, let alone endorse or feature them in attention-grabbing displays at the behest of radical activists.
"However, Target management does have fiduciary duties to its shareholders to prudently manage the company and act loyally in the company’s best interests.
"Target’s board and its management may not lawfully dilute their fiduciary duties to satisfy the Board’s (or left-wing activists') desires to foist contentious social or political agendas upon families and children at the expense of the company’s hardwon goodwill and against its best interests."
Next up, courtesy of The Washington Times, is action on the economic front.
Attorneys general from 25 states are ready and willing to sue the Biden administration over its goal of forcing automobile manufacturers to go almost all electric by 2030.
We wrote about this insane policy here.
It's a bad policy, most certinaly at the wrong time, which would force consumers to buy cars that are less efficient and less capable than gasoline powered cars and trucks.
"Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, one of 25 Republican AGs who has told the EPA its proposal is 'unlawful, unwise and unsustainable,' told The Times he and his GOP colleagues are prepared to take legal action."
This list includes: Texas, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah.
Finally, we have the attorney generals going after the racial spoils system that has infected and permeated corporate hiring policies.
A letter was sent by 13 of them to the Fortune 100 companies that, according to The Wall Street Journal, warned that after "The Supreme Court ended racial preferences in higher education last month and that principle also applies to corporate America."
This letter states, "Well-intentioned racial discrimination is just as illegal as invidious discrimination. Companies that engage in racial discrimination should and will face serious legal consequences.
"If your company previously resorted to racial preferences or . . . quotas to offset its bigotry, that discriminatory path is now definitively closed."
The Journal adds, "The letter cites specific examples of corporate policies that “illustrate the pervasiveness and explicit nature of these racial preferences."
In 2020, it says, executives of 27 banks, tech companies and consulting firms "set an explicit racial hiring quota."
The AGs say companies including, "Airbnb, Apple, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel, Lyft, Microsoft, Netflix, PayPal, Snapchat, TikTok, Uber and others” have also set policies that amount to discrimination on the basis of race."
This letter is poised to have real, immediate impact according to The Wall Street Journal.
"The AGs’ letter is important because the AGs enforce the civil-rights statutes in their states and many of those laws track closely with federal civil-rights law. Their application of those laws may begin shaping corporate policy even before the federal courts act to apply the logic of the Supreme Court’s Harvard decision."
This letter was initially written by Jonathan Skrmetti of Tennessee and Kris Kobach of Kansas. They are joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia.
The left is waging an multi-front war on conservatives, families, and red states.
These attorneys general are fighting back. Their roles can be even more important than that of the governor and legislatures, because attorney generals can act quickly and decisively.
We suggest you read over the list of states where the attorney general is taking the fight to the left on your behalf. If your state isn’t on the list, it’s time to contact their office and ask why the heck isn’t he or she fighting for you?
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.