VA Gov. Race...

**TheBeast** · September 10th, 2009, 09:30 AM

WASHINGTON (CNN) ? Eager to draw attention Bob McDonnell's conservative roots, campaign advisers to Democrat Creigh Deeds on Monday called McDonnell's newly-discovered 1989 graduate thesis a "devastating" revelation that threatens to sink the Republican's campaign for the Virginia governor's mansion.

The 93-page research paper ? first revealed in Sunday's Washington Post ? articulated a Christian conservative worldview that criticized "cohabitators, homosexuals and fornicators" and described working women and feminists "detrimental" to the family.

Your bringing this up when your lord and savior had all of his school records and papers and anything else related locked up and hidden so noone could see them, what is he trying to hide? And anytime anyting that Odumbass said within the past 5 years is brought up against him you say that was then he doesn't think that way anymore. Your article even provides it's own debunking and your stance that a person's views can change.

The thesis was called "The Republican Party's Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of the Decade." In it, McDonnell wrote that working women are "detrimental" the the family; that feminism is among "the real enemies of the traditional family"; and that the "purging" of religious influence in public schools is damaging to healthy families.

McDonnell's campaign said his views have changed over time and that Deeds is "seeking to make an issue of a decades-old academic paper." McDonnell's team noted that he once pushed to include child day care in a welfare bill so that women could have greater freedom to work, and that he is a husband and father of "strong working women."

**R13** · September 10th, 2009, 11:24 AM

He did? Hadn't heard of this.

**TheBeast** · September 10th, 2009, 12:51 PM

A simple google "obama school/college records" and every result is about how he refuses to release anything about his education other than he was a student.

**R13** · September 10th, 2009, 01:05 PM

I did and no it didn't. The only thing I seen he's refused to release is the one from Occidental College, everything else is there so that's wrong....that was the only one that wasn't from some bullshit site too. Funny how it's the same "birther" loonies also.

**TheBeast** · September 10th, 2009, 02:41 PM

Go ahead and post a copy of any of his records from any college.

**R13** · September 11th, 2009, 07:23 PM

I always thought we knew his grades from Harvard and Columbia? The only thing I've heard of is from Occidental, which any of it isn't blocked, it's just personal info.

snopes.com: Occidental College

What could he possibly be hiding? Honestly, what would be so damning about it? It roots from the birth-certificate BS, also funny how nothing is known about his schooling, but the same ones always talk about the "Barry Soetoro" stories.

**R13** · September 12th, 2009, 08:18 PM

WASHINGTON (CNN) ? Bob McDonnell, the normally-disciplined Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, mistakenly blurted out the F-bomb during a live radio interview on Friday.

Appearing on Washington-area radio station WTOP, McDonnell was sparring with host Mark Plotkin on the topic of transportation funding.

Plotkin asked if McDonnell would consider an increase in the state gasoline tax to help fund the transportation budget. McDonnell said no, and uttered the expletive during his response.

"So no tax will be raised during your four-year term?," Plotkin asked.

McDonnell answered: "I'm going to find other ways to be able to fund transportation. I've outlined twleve f?ing funding mechanisms that are creative, that are entrepreneurial."

The remark was first flagged by the Virginia Democratic blog NotLarrySabato.

McDonnell is running against Democrat Creigh Deeds in the governor's race, one of two marquee political battles in 2009 along with the New Jersey governor's race.

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - McDonnell drops F-bomb in live interview - Blogs from CNN.com

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WASHINGTON (CNN) ? Bob McDonnell, flip-flopper?

That's the latest charge to emerge from the Creigh Deeds campaign, which has been flogging the Republican gubernatorial candidate for nearly two weeks over his past positions on working women and homosexuality.

At issue Friday were McDonnell's remarks in an interview with Washington-area radio station WTOP, in which he explained why he voted against a 2001 resolution honoring equal pay for women when he was in the Virginia House of Delegates. Deeds, now the Democratic candidate for governor, supported the resolution.

"It was a ceremonial resolution," McDonnell explained to interviewer Mark Plotkin. McDonnell then stressed that he would support equal pay if elected governor of Virginia.

If that's the case, Deeds campaign aides wondered in a conference call with reporters Friday, why didn't he just vote for the equal pay resolution in the first place?

"It's another example of Bob McDonnell trying to re-write his record," said Deeds campaign senior adviser Mo Elleithee. "He keeps changing his positions, and when he keeps changing his words, I'm not sure how anyone could trust him."

Deeds, too, has been accused of flip-flopping. Former Democratic governor Doug Wilder told the Washington Post during the party's nomination fight earlier this year that he was disappointed Deeds has downplayed past stances on same-sex marriage and gun rights.

"What Creigh is saying now is, 'I've changed my philosophy,'" Wilder said at the time. "Suppose we had elected you before? Would you have changed?"

Although Deeds has said the governor's race should be about education and job creation rather than polarizing social issues, his campaign has made McDonnell's record on social issues a focal point of the campaign ? most recently by launching a statewide TV ad criticizing McDonnell's record on abortion and contraception.

Elleithee said the Deeds campaign would continue to highlight McDonnell's conservative resume. "We are going to continue to talk about that record as well as focusing on Creigh's positive record," he said.

McDonnell communication director Tucker Martin was quick with a response.

"When will they have a conference call to roll out a transportation plan?" he asked.

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - McDonnell accused of flip-flopping as he runs for governor - Blogs from CNN.com

**R13** · September 17th, 2009, 05:10 PM

UH-OH.

Election 2009: Virginia Governor Election - Rasmussen Reports

Looks like McDonnells lead has shrunk big time, now a two point lead. And that's a rasmussen poll too.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) ? Virginia's two gubernatorial candidates clashed Thursday over a mix of state and national issues in a televised debate that saw Democrat Creigh Deeds distance himself from President Obama and Republican Bob McDonnell continue to fight back against charges that he's a divisive social conservative.

It was the second of four scheduled debates in the Virginia governor's race.

Deeds was asked directly if he considers himself an "Obama Democrat." The state senator from rural Bath County paused before saying he is proud to have the president's support, but would prefer to describe himself as "a Creigh Deeds Democrat."

He said he has expressed concerns to the president over the Employee Free Choice Act, health care legislation, and the size of the national debt.

Deeds was also questioned on whether he believes some criticism of the president is motivated by racism. He called Joe Wilson's outburst on the House floor last week "unprecedented" and said: "Clearly there's a hint of racism in some of the opposition to Barack Obama, that is crystal clear."

McDonnell, meanwhile, once again found himself on the defensive over his 20-year-old master's thesis, in which he criticized working women as "detrimental" to healthy families.

Deeds said McDonnell wants to restrict abortion rights and opposes contraceptive counseling for married couples. McDonnell, who wrote the thesis when he was 34 years old, said his views have changed, and that the campaign should be about economic issues, not social ones.

He pointed to the female staffers he hired when he became Virginia attorney general in 2006, and to his own family ? particularly his daughter Jeanine, who served as an Army lieutenant in Iraq.

"Creigh, there you go again," McDonnell said, attempting to channel Ronald Reagan. "I'm frankly pretty insulted that you would say that my daughter, that I supported and loved for 28 years to go fight in Iraq, that I don't support women."

The topic of transportation funding consumed much of the debate, which was sponsored by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce and took place in the state's most populous county, where one in seven voters reside.

McDonnell promised to not raise taxes and said he could find ways to fund transportation with some "innovative" ideas, such as his proposal to sell off Virginia's state-run liquor stores, which he said would raise millions.

Asked why he opposed former Democratic governor Mark Warner's 2004 bipartisan budget legislation ? a tax hike that rescued the state budget and is regarded as having saved the Virginia's bond rating ? McDonnell replied that he is simply against raising taxes.

Deeds seemed to hedge on whether he plans to raise taxes for transportation. "No, I'm not going to raise taxes," he said. But he quickly added, "I am the only person on this dais who will sign a transportation plan that raises new money."

After the debate, the McDonnell campaign released a new TV ad accusing his rival of having no plan for transportation.

Both men paid homage to the voters and business leaders of northern Virginia, who hold significant economic and political sway in the state. Deeds called northern Virginia "the cash cow that feeds the state." McDonnell called the region "the Internet capital of the world."

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Virginia candidates clash on state, national issues - Blogs from CNN.com