Bob McDonnell's Plans

Bob McDonnell's campaign for governor of Virginia is the culmination of cultural and political plans he put in place more than twenty years ago, plans which he has been following since then.

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.
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During his 14 years in the General Assembly, McDonnell pursued at least 10 of the policy goals he laid out in that research paper, including abortion restrictions, covenant marriage, school vouchers and tax policies to favor his view of the traditional family. In 2001, he voted against a resolution in support of ending wage discrimination between men and women. - The Washington Post

This article in the Washington Post is not the result of some kind of witch hunt. Bob McDonnell himself made reference to his graduate thesis in recent campaign comments, which led to the Post to go find a copy and read it.

The Washington Post learned of the thesis in a recent interview with McDonnell, who mentioned it in answering a question about his political roots. McDonnell brought up the paper in reference to a pair of Republican congressmen whom he interviewed as part of his research. McDonnell then offered: "I wrote my thesis on welfare policy." - The Washington Post

Others have already analyzed the article, including Blue Virginia.

Look, let's face it, Bob McDonnell's not just outside the mainstream of American politics generally, he's even outside the mainstream of the Republican Party. Women shouldn't work? Contraception should be illegal? The government should micromanage our private lives? Heck, even Sarah Palin probably doesn't agree with all this crap. I mean, this is not just bonkers, it's "Sideshow Bob" Marshall bonkers (now THAT is bonkers!). - Blue Virginia

I don't have anything to add, other than to recommend reading the article. It's worth your time.