Only in the connect-the-dots universe of Virginia politics could a vacancy on the state Supreme Court determine whether the attorney general resigns in a gamble for governor.

Steve Agee left the court for a federal appellate judgeship. Bill Mims, No. 2 in the attorney general's office, makes no secret of his interest in the Supreme Court. He is among eight endorsed for the court by the Virginia Bar Association.

Mims' ambitions are tied to those of his boss, Attorney General Bob McDonnell. And he may want Mims to sit tight.

As the presumed 2009 Republican nominee for governor, McDonnell is likely to face pressure from Democrats to abide by a laughable, half-century-old Virginia tradition: resign to shield, if only symbolically, the state's law office from politics.

In the heat of a campaign, McDonnell -- should he stand down -- wants someone he trusts watching his back. That logically would be Mims. But were it so easy that Mims gets the job or a judgeship.

Such uncertainty is among several reasons McDonnell may rule out resignation and risk a hissing match with Democrats by running for governor as a sitting AG. Besides, with kids still at home, McDonnell probably could use the money.

By punching out early for a governor's race, recent attorneys general -- often by joining high-end law firms, generous with salary and staff -- have only exposed Virginia to additional political cross-currents, some rife with ethical implications. These firms gamble short-term investments to yield long-term profits.

Even losers are winners. Republican Jerry Kilgore resigned as attorney general during his 2005 bid for governor to join a large Richmond firm. He stayed on after his defeat and now heads the government-affairs practice. Kilgore celebrates his -- and his firm's -- good fortune poolside at his new house.

The title -- attorney general -- generates dividends even for those who briefly carried it. Tony Troy was AG from 1977-78, succeeding Democrat Andy Miller, who lost for governor and U.S. Senate.

Troy is a veteran fixer with another big firm. Often described in press accounts as a "former attorney general," Troy, friends joke, has milked for 30 years the honorific he held for just one.

Which raises the issue of timing. For McDonnell, the best opportunity to move over for Mims would be when the General Assembly, were it still controlled by the GOP, is in session. That's the only occasion when lawmakers pick the attorney general.

Otherwise, he or she is selected by the governor. That would be Democrat Tim Kaine.

Though Mims, a former state senator, is highly regarded by the R's who run the House and D's in charge of the Senate, that counts for little in an election year, when even sober-minded attorneys general are given to shenanigans that perhaps feed voter cynicism.

Richard Cullen, named by Gov. George Allen to succeed Attorney General Jim Gilmore during the 1997 governor's race, issued an official opinion propping up a Gilmore no-car-tax plan deemed legally dubious by U.Va. constitutional maven A.E. Dick Howard, a Democrat.

For McDonnell, quitting may be more aggravating than not. Unless he considers a lawyerlike option: serving as a part-time attorney general at half-pay, as Republican gubernatorial nominee Marshall Coleman did in 1981.

Voters didn't buy that either.
Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 6496814 or jschapiro@timesdispatch.com. He provides news analysis each Friday at 8:33 a.m. on WCVE radio (88.9 FM).