Ron Volesky promises that he'd be a pain in the ass as Attorney General

In one of the silliest things I think I've read in a while, The Argus Leader is reporting tonight that if elected, Ron Volesky promises he'd be like the annoying know-it-all at social gatherings. He'd provide you advice whether you wanted it or not:

Ron Volesky promises to be an activist attorney general who will freely advise the governor and Legislature on constitutional matters and aggressively advocate for open government.

In that regard, Volesky, who is running as a Democrat against incumbent Republican Larry Long, says he would have told legislators the abortion ban adopted last spring is unconstitutional.

He also would have told Gov. Mike Rounds to find different ways to fund education.

Read it all here. Now, compare that to the actual duties of the attorney general as dictated by law:

1-11-1. General duties of attorney general. The duties of the attorney general shall be:

(1) To appear for the state and prosecute and defend all actions and proceedings, civil or criminal, in the Supreme Court, in which the state shall be interested as a party;

(2) When requested by the Governor or either branch of the Legislature, or whenever in his judgment the welfare of the state demands, to appear for the state and prosecute or defend, in any court or before any officer, any cause or matter, civil or criminal, in which the state may be a party or interested;

(3) To attend to all civil cases remanded by the Supreme Court to the circuit court, in which the state shall be a party or interested;

(4) To prosecute, at the request of the Governor, state auditor, or state treasurer, any official bond or contract in which the state is interested, upon a breach thereof, and to prosecute or defend for the state all actions, civil or criminal, relating to any matter connected with either of their departments;

(5) To consult with, advise, and exercise supervision over the several state's attorneys of the state in matters pertaining to the duties of their office, and he shall be authorized and it is made his duty, whenever in his judgment any opinion written by him will be of general interest and value, to mail either written or printed copies of such opinion to the auditor-general and to every state's attorney and county auditor in the state;

(6) When requested, to give his opinion in writing, without fee, upon all questions of law submitted to him by the Legislature or either branch thereof, or by the Governor, auditor, or treasurer;

(7) When requested by the state auditor, treasurer, or commissioner of school and public lands, to prepare proper drafts for contracts, forms, and other writings, which may be wanted for use of the state;

(8) To report to the Legislature, or either branch thereof, whenever requested, upon any business relating to the duties of his office;

(9) To prosecute state officers who neglect or refuse to comply with the provisions of statutes of this state prohibiting officers of the state from accepting any money, fee, or perquisite other than salary for performance of duties connected with his office or paid because of holding such office and the statute requiring issue and delivery and filing of prenumbered duplicate receipts and accounting for money received for the state;

(10) To pay into the state treasury all moneys received by him, belonging to the state, immediately upon the receipt thereof;

(11) To attend to and perform any other duties which may from time to time be required by law.

Read that all here. And take special note of this subsection: (6) When requested, to give his opinion in writing, without fee, upon all questions of law submitted to him by the Legislature or either branch thereof, or by the Governor, auditor, or treasurer;

So, by his statements, we can assume that with Volesky as attorney general, he isn't going to follow state law? That he's going to spend his time offering his opinion left and right as if it was requested by someone?

And that statement; where he says "He also would have told Gov. Mike Rounds to find different ways to fund education." Well, whether he thinks one for of taxation is wrong is not a legal opinion. It's a political one. And that's the Governor and Legislature to decide. So he's telling us he's going to usurp the authority of others?

In other words, it sounds like he's still running for Governor, without the benefit of actually running for the office. Sorry Ron. You bailed out on that race. The Attorney General has a distinct, statutory role. Whether you'd prefer to be Governor or not.

The moral of the story? Next time, stay in the Gubernatorial race if that's what you want to be when you grow up. You can't fit Attorney General, Treasurer or PUC Commissioner into that role, no matter how much you might try.