The Post on McDonnell's Thesis

Here's an editorial comment from The Washington Post on Bob McDonnell's thesis.

Nonetheless, in his 14 years in the state's General Assembly, Mr. McDonnell did aggressively pursue a socially conservative agenda largely in line with his thesis. As governor he could do the same, although he would be constrained by a legislature at least partly controlled by Democrats. He could not ban abortion and contraception, but he could help restrict access. The Bob McDonnell who wrote that thesis would make a divisive, disruptive and partisan governor -- a sharp departure from the tradition of generally pragmatic executives who have helped make Virginia one of the better-managed states in the union. Virginians deserve specific answers about where the thinking of his early middle age has shifted, and where it remains consistent. - The Washington Post

It's interesting that the Post's position largely legitimizes the initial critiques from the Virginia (and national) blogosphere. Worth reading, for example, is Mary Sue Terry's commentary.

When I was 30, I was elected to the House of Delegates. And then at 37, I was elected as Attorney General of Virginia and entered my 8th year of public service. My parents were rural school teachers. My mother taught school because she not only loved helping young people but because her income was an essential part of our family’s finances. They had seen that my sisters and I had gotten a good education. And now I was seeking to live out the other two values that our parents had taught us:work hard and make a difference for others.

That’s what I was attempting to do at the age of 38, when I stepped into the same office that Bob McDonnell just left. That’s what I was doing when he wrote his thesis about women in the workforce. I wonder now what he thought then of women in elective office. - Mary Sue Terry

Think about that. As a woman ascended to office of Attorney General, Bob McDonnell was writing a thesis decrying women working outside the home. And this is the man who now wants to be Governor of Virginia. How does he view Jody Wagner's candidacy? Do we want Virginia to move forward into the 21st century, or backwards into the 19th?

Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner and Steven Shannon represent the best of Virginia's pragmatic, forward-thinking, Democratic traditions. Bob McDonnell lambasted those traditions and lived a plan to roll them back during his political career. Take the time to make a difference and work for our Democratic candidates today.