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"A Prescription for Yesterday's Virginia, Not Tomorrow's" |
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Washington Post Editorial Sunday, October 18, 2009 Mr. McDonnell, champion of a revenue-starved status quo, remains in denial. He professes to feel the pain of Virginians struggling with financial hard times. In fact his transportation policy, a blueprint for stagnation and continuing deterioration, would subvert the state's prospects for economic recovery and long-term growth. And it would only deepen the misery of Northern Virginia commuters who already pay a terrible price -- economic, personal and psychological -- because of the state's long neglect of its roads. ... Our differences with him are on questions of policy. The clamor surrounding his graduate dissertation from 1989, in which he disparaged working women, homosexuals, "fornicators" and others of whom he disapproved, has tended to obscure rather than illuminate fair questions about the sort of governor he would make. Based on his 14-year record as a lawmaker -- a record dominated by his focus on incendiary wedge issues -- we worry that Mr. McDonnell's Virginia would be one where abortion rights would be curtailed; where homosexuals would be treated as second-class citizens; where information about birth control would be hidden; and where the line between church and state could get awfully porous. That is a prescription for yesterday's Virginia, not tomorrow's. Mr. McDonnell has inspired a worthwhile debate over privatizing liquor sales in Virginia, one of 18 states that control the wholesale and retail trade in spirits. But by suggesting the state could use the proceeds of privatization as an ongoing funding source for road improvements, he has played fast and loose with the facts -- first by plucking projected revenue figures from thin air and second by glossing over the question of what state services he would cut if the $100 million currently gleaned from annual liquor sales could be diverted for transportation. Mr. McDonnell has sought to corner Mr. Deeds by focusing on debates in Washington over energy policy, labor union membership and other contentious federal issues. But a governor of Virginia can do little to influence the ideologically charged debates raging on Capitol Hill. Mr. McDonnell also has claimed he would be more effective at creating jobs. Yet while Mr. McDonnell has been an activist public servant, he has no significant record, either as a lawmaker or as attorney general, of promoting policies to encourage job growth. Click here to read the full story. |
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What Bob McDonnell Can't Explain Away By Ruth Marcus
Washington Post Columnist
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, didn't really mean it when he equated homosexuality with drug abuse and pornography as evils that "the government must restrain, punish, and deter." He didn't really mean it when he decried a Supreme Court ruling invalidating a ban on contraception for married couples because it promoted "a view of liberty based on radical individualism." Or when he urged that "every level of government should statutorily and procedurally prefer married couples over cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators," adding, "The cost of sin should fall on the sinner, not the taxpayer." Or when he described "feminism" as one of the "real enemies of the traditional family" and criticized federal child-care programs because they "subsidize a dynamic new trend of working women and feminists that is ultimately detrimental to the family." Or if he did mean it, he doesn't any longer. When he wrote his thesis on "The Republican Party's Vision for the Family," McDonnell, you see, was a "college student at the time, albeit a little older college student, within an academic environment and completely not restrained by the real policy world." Click here to read the full article. |
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McDonnell “Just Says No” To Answering Questions About His Abramoff, Cantor Scandal |
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“His staff ushered him away from any questions from the news media.” Oh, the irony! On the same day Republicans launched a “Just Say Yes” tour across Virginia, gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell “Just Said No” to answering questions about a troubling Virginian-Pilot report. According to the report, McDonnell previously served as the lawyer for the so-called “Faith and Family Alliance,” a shady political group headed by his current campaign manager. The Virginian-Pilot reported that the group funneled funds on behalf of convicted felon Jack Abramoff, attacked Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor, and – in possible violation of federal election law – coordinated its activities with the campaign of Cantor’s opponent. |
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McDonnell Emerges as Weakened Nominee |
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Raising Less and Spending More than Kilgore, McDonnell Plays Defense As Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell launches his general election bid today, one thing is clear: McDonnell is not where he expected to be. To date, McDonnell has raised less and spent significantly more than did Jerry Kilgore at a similar point in the 2005 campaign. Rather than define the terms of the debate, McDonnell has repeatedly played catch-up. As a result, McDonnell begins the general election already defined as a candidate out of touch with Virginians struggling in challenging times. |
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