Kinda busy today so I’ll let others do the talking.
The Roanoke Times: Bob’s Radical Thesis
If he changed his mind on these and other things, it was only recently, perhaps as recently as the day he declared his run for governor.
The Virginian-Pilot: Divining the relevance of McDonnell’s thesis
All of us mature and adapt to our changing world, and we should expect our leaders to do the same. The question is not whether Bob McDonnell is the same person he was 20 years ago, but whether he has changed enough that he truly wants to be the governor of all Virginians.
The Washington Post: The Macaca Thesis
There’s every reason to think that McDonnell would govern as conservatively as the current politics of the state would allow. His professions of relative disinterest in social issues are unconvincing.
Post cartoon is here.
PPP released a poll yesterday on the race.
The big question in the race right now of course is the impact that the revelations from McDonnell’s thesis at Regent University will or will not have. Unfortunately we completed 86% of the interviews for this poll on Friday and Saturday so the numbers don’t fully reflect any fall out from that story. However it is worth noting that while McDonnell led 50-41 in the two days of polling before the article, Deeds actually led 50-42 in the 83 interviews conducted on Sunday and Monday. That should be taken with a grain of salt since the margin of error on that small a sample is +/-10.8% but it is somewhat unusual for numbers to shift that strongly over the course of a field period and it will be interesting to see the next rounds of polling conducted completely once the story has set in. It’s the kind of thing that could get sleepy Democratic voters more engaged to head out to the polls in November.
The DNC has released a video on McDonnell.
Back to work.
UPDATE: A couple of good blog posts: McDonnell has to answer for more than his master’s thesis and Bob McDonnell flip flops on pro-life stance
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
“Divining,” not “diving.”
(Just erase this comment.)
Bob McDonnell is a Republican. In other news, birds fly, fish swim.
I know there is a bit of desperation to knock out McDonnell with the large lead he currently holds, but we’re still seeing very little of Creigh Deeds’ on the issues. Pointing out a 20 year old college paper and polls that currently have a larger sample of self-identifying Democrats still don’t show how he stands on the issues, but rather, show that Deeds’ hopes in this race are slipping away fast.
And? That Deeds isn’t the most charismatic or inspiring standard bearer is hardly news. It’s also irrelevant to the points above. McDonnell – like his defenders – is standing foursquare in the path of decency and progress. That’s the point. Try to keep up, Chris (as much as I know forward motion pains you).
I did not vote for him because he was charismatic or inspiring. I voted for him because he was better on the issues than his two opponents were.
He cannot compete with McDonnell on charisma, so he’d better get to the issues.
At some point, we needed to reacquaint Virginians with the real Bob McDonnell. I know he seeks to conceal his record and beliefs on the role government should play in the most intimate areas of your personal life. But that doesn’t mean we should indulge him. His history appears to demonstrate he is a theocrat. Now maybe that has changed since the last election. And to the extent that it has, it would be important for him to elaborate on what exactly has changed. That’s not desperation. And if this excites the Democratic base as much as Republicans are excited about this race, then, hey, bonus points!
The Deeds campaign is a fair discussion too. But that doesn’t make this unimportant.
It doesn’t seem to be working: http://bearingdrift.com/2009/09/02/rasmussen-mcdonnell-up-by-9-after-wapo-hit-piece/
Yet…
The polls are as useless as the people who quote them. Just the methodology of polls today, make them useless. Most are automated, so there is no accounting for either relevancy or accuracy. The only poll that matters is election day, and just like the polls had Deeds two opponents way ahead in the primary, they are doing the same this time.
McDonnell is a far right wing, constitution breaking, snobby elitist, who hates anyone who doesn’t subscribe to the Pat Robertson doctrine of “how things should be”.
Deeds will win in November and all the hand wringing, teeth gnashing and speculation based on irrelevant polls, is a waste of time.
The polls are useless, but fortunately we have the prophet T.W. to tell us the future.
And someone with an IQ under double digits to repudiate anyone who see’s or dares to speak the truth, and who hides behind an phony name! Yessireee, you typify what the republicans stand for!
Touchy, aren’t you. I notice you keep harping on that IQ thing, too. Is that a sore spot for you?
I don’t get what the big deal is…women get paid less than men. This is wrong, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is true. More women in the workforce depresses wages because they get paid less. Depressed wages make it harder for a single person to provide for a whole family. This leads more women into the workforce. More women in the workforce means more kids stuck raising themselves. By definition more women in the workforce degrades the family.
You gotta do what you gotta do, but that does not change the fact that kids need motherly love and if moms at work they arent going to get that love. Kids with 2 parents do better in school, have lower crime rates, etc.. etc..
My mom had to work, I hated it, it ruined my family life, literally. So anyone who says what Bob McDonnell is saying about women in the workplace is disgraceful to women, well, wake up, because it is hurting our families. I’m not saying women should not be working, I’m just saying society would be a lot better off if more moms were at home with there kids instead of having to work to make ends meet.
So, if I understand Max’s position, mothers who work don’t love their kids? Kids whose mothers work don’t have two parents? And we’re all poorer because able-bodied people are working and earning wages to help support their family?
I think Max has a future as a Republican candidate. But let’s hope he doesn’t have any daughters.
“And we’re all poorer because able-bodied people are working and earning wages to help support their family?”
No, but our wages are lower. Adding workers to the labor pool drives down wages. Women’s wages have been increasing, and men’s have been decreasing.
http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps49666/wagegap2.htm
In some fields, including my own, women actually make more than men. (Ibid)
Often the pay gap is the natural result of a woman’s being more likely to work part-time, and so not have as much experience, or taking time off to have children.
No. Im not saying any of that.
I’m saying that when you break it down to its most basic level, the mom is not there because she is working. She may love her kids very much, but over millions of families the statistical norm will be a degradation of the family in relation to the time the children spend away from their parents in their impressionable years.
Divorce rates are rising, the family is in crisis. These facts are indisputable. There is nothing wrong with women working, they should get paid equally as men. However, when you are conducting an investigation as to the degradation of the family the first place you must look are the parents. The amount of time children spend with their parents has been steadily decreasing over the past 100 years due to numerous factors. An increase of single parent families or families where both parents work is one of those factors.
This was a thesis. There is plenty of data to show children with two parents do better than those with one. It was an academic exercise of what he would do in an ideal society. In my ideal society people who betray the public trust should be killed or imprisoned at the least. I would write as much in academic paper, but never would I advocate such in reality because it is clearly unworkable. Ideally I want there to be no Federal Reserve, but I understand at present a sudden removal would be catastrophic as there is no other agency to serve its purpose. Bob McDonnell realizes that when both parents have to work, the family suffers. I am sure he also respects that fact that many women have to work or want to work and that they still love their kids very much. But as someone trying to get a masters degree or run for governor, you have to look at the big picture.
I think Bob McDonnell should take some time off and stay home with his kids. I plan to help him do that.