McDonnell's Thesis

[Lunar]

It's not a bombshell, but worthy of its own thread.  I'm not sure if he'll ever be able to win a general election nationally, having published this sort of stuff

For what it's worth, Webb has published some truly disgusting stuff himself in his past, and he, similar to McDonnell, simply said that that is no longer what he believes

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/29/AR2009082902434.html?sid=ST2009082902758

At age 34, two years before his first election and two decades before he would run for governor of Virginia, Robert F. McDonnell submitted a master's thesis to the evangelical school he was attending in Virginia Beach in which he described working women and feminists as "detrimental" to the family. He said government policy should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators." He described as "illogical" a 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unmarried couples.

snip

"Further expenditures would be used to subsidize a dynamic new trend of working women and feminists that is ultimately detrimental to the family by entrenching status-quo of nonparental primary nurture of children," he wrote.

snip

The thesis wasn't so much a case against government as a blueprint to change what he saw as a liberal model into one that actively promoted conservative, faith-based principles through tax policy, the public schools, welfare reform and other avenues.

"Leaders must correct the conventional folklore about the separation of church and state," he wrote. "Historically, the religious liberty guarantees of the First Amendment were intended to prevent government encroachment upon the free church, not eliminate the impact of religion on society."

He argued for covenant marriage, a legally distinct type of marriage intended to make it more difficult to obtain a divorce. He advocated character education programs in public schools to teach "traditional Judeo-Christian values" and other principles that he thought many youths were not learning in their homes. He called for less government encroachment on parental authority, for example, redefining child abuse to "exclude parental spanking." He lamented the "purging of religious influence" from public schools. And he criticized federal tax credits for child care expenditures because they encouraged women to enter the workforce.

"Further expenditures would be used to subsidize a dynamic new trend of working women and feminists that is ultimately detrimental to the family by entrenching status-quo of nonparental primary nurture of children," he wrote.

He went on to say feminism is among the "real enemies of the traditional family."

snip

McDonnell was widely quoted at the time as saying that homosexual activity raised questions about a person's qualifications to be a judge. Spokesman Tucker Martin said McDonnell was misquoted and does not consider homosexuality a disqualifying factor for judgeships or other jobs.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

For a second I thought this was about Senator McConnell.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

This is not news. McDonnell is a right-wing theocrat who's managed to give himself an image makeover and pose as a "moderate".

[Holmes]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Virginia, meet your new governor!

[Bono]

Obviously he holds the same views now he held twenty years ago.

Wake me up when you apply this standard to Obama's much more recent positions on guns.

[WalterMitty]

Obviously he holds the same views now he held twenty years ago.

Wake me up when you apply this standard to Obama's much more recent positions on guns.

while certainly a nutjob, mcdonnell surely is more principled than obama.

has obama ever taken a stand on anything? 

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Sadly, I don't think this will mean much.

[Lunar]

Obviously he holds the same views now he held twenty years ago.

Wake me up when you apply this standard to Obama's much more recent positions on guns.

Apples and oranges, no one is claiming that Obama's position has "evolved" or changed, just that they were and remain faux positions

[Lunar]

This is not news. McDonnell is a right-wing theocrat who's managed to give himself an image makeover and pose as a "moderate".

to me, the likely victor in one of the year's two races... having not only declared, but academically argued for 93 pages that, among other things, working women have harmed society seems pretty extreme, but obviously that's just me

it could be good in an ad

[WalterMitty]

This is not news. McDonnell is a right-wing theocrat who's managed to give himself an image makeover and pose as a "moderate".

to me, the likely victor in one of the year's two races... having not only declared, but academically argued for 93 pages that, among other things, working women have harmed society seems pretty extreme, but obviously that's just me

it could be good in an ad

his wife worked.

and while i certainly do not believe that working women have harmed society, it is pretty hard to deny the fact that the more parental involvement a child has in its life, the better the odds of that child turning out to be a 'success'.

and lunar you mentioned jim webb.  it is pretty goddamned hypocritical to denounce mcdonnell and not denounce webb.   ive denounced them both, obviously.

[Landslide Lyndon]

his wife worked.

and while i certainly do not believe that working women have harmed society, it is pretty hard to deny the fact that the more parental involvement a child has in its life, the better the odds of that child turning out to be a 'success'.

and lunar you mentioned jim webb.  it is pretty goddamned hypocritical to denounce mcdonnell and not denounce webb.   ive denounced them both, obviously.

Webb opposed women in armed forces, not in general.

[Lunar]

and lunar you mentioned jim webb.  it is pretty goddamned hypocritical to denounce mcdonnell and not denounce webb.   ive denounced them both, obviously.

how am I hypocritical if I was the one who mentioned it and called it disgusting?

[DownWithTheLeft]

This has nothing on Jersey Joe Pennachio's homeless people camps

Please tell me someone remembers

[Brittain33]

Yeah, it's hard to see that this doesn't cut into his vaunted strength in NoVa. The ads write themselves.

We've got a race again.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

That doesn't look good.  Why is it that the crazy seems to be coming exclusively from Republicans these days?

Given what I've seen over the last few cycles, I've got to say that Dems have a really good opposition research team in Virginia.

[Stampever]

I don't see this as much of an issue.  He is a Republican, so he will have more conservative views.  As the article itself says, his political career hasn't mirrored this thesis.  Plus, McDonnell was the one who addressed the thesis, rather than Democratic opposition research (sorry Mr. Moderate), so he must not feel that it is a liability.

My question is, is this thesis worse than Sotomayor's "wise Latina" comments?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Plus, McDonnell was the one who addressed the thesis, rather than Democratic opposition research (sorry Mr. Moderate), so he must not feel that it is a liability.

Ohhh, interesting.

Thankfully, peoples' views change over time. I expect most of the 14-year-old crazies who post here to have relatively rational and thoughtful views about the world by the time they turn 30.

[Lunar]

It's important to note that McDonnell was 34 when he wrote this too.

[Stampever]

It's important to note that McDonnell was 34 when he wrote this too.

True, but it is also important to remember that this was an academic assignment and not a campaign platform or speech, hence the reason why I was comparing it to Sotomayor's speeches.

[Rowan]

When will we get to see Obama's thesis?

[Brittain33]

It's important to note that McDonnell was 34 when he wrote this too.

True, but it is also important to remember that this was an academic assignment and not a campaign platform or speech, hence the reason why I was comparing it to Sotomayor's speeches.

First, I'm not sure if academic assignment is meant to let him off the hook; he clearly felt strongly about the subject and chose the topic himself. The only thing "assigned" was to draw up an action plan, but that does not excuse his assessment of the problem, such as it was.

Second, did Sotomayor give any full-length speeches that outlined such an out-of-the-mainstream view in such length? I've heard a few quips given in the context of larger speeches that were otherwise boring--the "making policy" and "wise Latina" lines--but nothing like a 93-page dissertation about how the courts can redefine U.S. society in a way most people would find sinister or, to complete your analogy, how minority judges are inherently superior and here are 15 ways that is true, 12 ways white judges are destroying society, and my 10-step plan to make the whole judiciary like me.

Let's be objective about what counts as "outside the mainstream" here, too. Defending affirmative action is controversial, but it isn't outside the mainstream; what McDonnell wrote, is.

[Brittain33]

Plus, McDonnell was the one who addressed the thesis, rather than Democratic opposition research (sorry Mr. Moderate), so he must not feel that it is a liability.

More likely he was trying to inoculate himself against something he thought could blow up his campaign later.

(To be clear, I can't predict the outcome of this; maybe it's a minor blip. I think it has the potential to be a game-changer in a state where Republicans have a high floor but can't take a win for granted and Deeds seemed unable to break through.)

[Eraserhead]

Eagerly awaiting the next batch of polls...

[MODU]

Wow Brittain, you got all of that out of the news article?  The only real "out of the mainstream" item mentioned in the article is advocating covenant marriage.  Everything else (tax cuts, school vouchers, abortion restrictions, etc) are part of the norm and have been enacted in many states and DC.

As far as the whole "93-pages" line, that's just a red herring.  The discussion of things like covenant marriage probably didn't take up more than six pages at best, and that would have been due to the need to lay out the situation regarding marriages and divorces, defining what covenant marriages are, provide the history of the practice, and what impact it would have going forward.

Seriously, have you ever written a graduate level thesis before?  I bet my paper one "Why Rt. 1 should be razed" wouldn't be considered something I "felt strongly about."  And while my paper advocated lining up 26 bulldozers to wipe a 5-mile stretch of Prince William County off the map and replace it with a modern road networks and shopping centers (compared to the chaos that currently exists), you couldn't assume that I would run for office in the hopes to fulfil the goals of that paper.

Really, this thesis of his cannot outweigh his works in office over the past two decades.  You can get him on covenant marriage legislation (which he tried to achieve), but once he lost the votes on it he never went back to it.

And to Stampever's point about Sotomayor, I put this in the same classification.  It doesn't disqualify him no more than Sotomayor's comments about a "wise Latina' disqualifies her.  If this is the best the Democrats can hope for to use against McDonnell (in conservative Virginia of all things), then you're all but out of the race.

[Brittain33]

The part about fornicators, cohabiters, and working women seems a little bit controversial, no? Even if you think many people would agree with it? It's kind of like how opposing gay marriage is a majority view, but using really ugly anti-gay rhetoric can turn some people off because it's a signifier of a form of political leadership that they wouldn't like in other areas of government. Eugene DelGaudio's(?) and Dick Black's views on gay marriage were identical to Virginia law, I believe, but they personally made themselves look out of step.

We can all draw our own conclusions as to how far out of the mainstream it is. I stand by my assessment. You live in Virginia, and I don't, so there's that. I also don't doubt there is a large number of people in the state who share the views expressed in the thesis and that it is politically popular in many states, as you pointed out. The Virginia GOP did choose Gilmore over Davis on the basis of his socially conservative views, and no doubt this may make conservatives more apt to support him if their support was in question. 

I'm pretty sure the substance of the Washington Post article and the attitudes McDonnell demonstrated will cause him problems among many moderate voters in Virginia who have recently backed Democrats but were up until now appearing to back him. Let's see how the polls go. Maybe you're right, and moderates will see this the same way conservatives do, and it's smooth sailing for McDonnell.

Honestly, I've been surprised at how well McDonnell has been doing because I didn't think the Republican brand in Virginia had bottomed out yet. There's no reason for the state to elect a Republican governor yet based on recent voting and the issues; the state's finances are still troubled and there isn't a huge call for bigger tax cuts. I think McDonnell's support has always been soft for that reason, and that's why a reassessment of his moderate image has potential to harm him. But Deeds is simply not as strong a candidate as Kaine or Warner were...