McDonnell vs. Deeds: It Matters

If Bob McDonnell wins the Governor’s Mansion in Virginia, he’s told us what he’ll do. Words matter, and even though McDonnell says his views have changed since he wrote his Christian Broadcasting Network Law School thesis, he hasn’t said HOW they’ve changed. They might have gotten much worse.

McDonnell called the separation of church and state “conventional folklore“ in his thesis.  He has not repudiated that view.  Imagine a governor reviewing bills for veto or making appointments from Pat Robertson’s ideological perspective.

McDonnell opposed equal pay for equal work while in the legislature and stated in his thesis that working women are “detrimental to the family.” He has not explained his current views.  He has only pointed out that his mother worked, he encouraged his wife and daughters to work, and treated some female subordinates in his office well. Women not personally acquainted with, or related to, a Governor McDonnell are left to wonder where they might stand.

And yes, Bob McDonnell called the Supreme Court decision legalizing contraception for married couples “among the harshest blows to the American family and traditional morality.”

McDonnell makes clear in his thesis that he believes the education of children is not properly a civic function, and should be left to the family.  Thus, one is left to question his commitment to public education.  Given the hash of tortured logic, butchered English, and faulty history in his thesis one wonders if he took advantage of his exposure to education, or if CBN law school just taught him a new approach.

McDonnell has a transportation plan.  It involves using revenue from offshore oil.  Revenue that doesn’t exist, and would optimistically come on line many years after his term expires.  His next best plan for revenue is to raid the general fund which is already strapped to pay for education, public safety, mental health, Medicaid and other obligations, but he has not said what he would cut.  Then he touts public/private partnerships, but doesn’t say where Virginia would get the public money in that equation.  McDonnell accuses Deeds of having no transportation plan.  Given the comparison, we like Deeds’ plan better.

McDonnell says he is from Fairfax, Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Virginia Beach.  Creigh Deeds says he’s from Bath County.  He’s always been from Bath County.  On the theory that to know where you’re going, it helps to know where you’ve been, Deeds is the clear choice.

McDonnell says he will be a “jobs Governor.”  He’ll make Virginia “more friendly for business.”  Can lenders find better interest rates than unlimited?  Can businesses find a friendlier climate than one which allows legislators to be directly employed by the businesses they represent before regulatory boards?  Can utilities find a better regulatory environment than a state government that, when asked to jump, replies, “how high?”  We can’t wait to see Governor McDonnell’s definition of “friendly,” but it probably rhymes with “schmivatize.”

If a national healthcare plan passes with any type of opt-in/opt-out option for individual states, do you picture a Governor McDonnell opting in?  Elections have consequences.

The bottom line on Tuesday is that we can go backward to fighting Pat Robertson’s divisive battles on social issues, or we can go forward to face the hard choices on substantive problems that Virginia will face over the next four years.