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GOP nominee rejects thesis
McDonnell talks thesis
Date published: 9/1/2009 BY CHELYEN DAVIS Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell yesterday defended himself against his own college thesis paper, saying he does not believe that women should not work or that government should discriminate against gays or unmarried people, as the thesis suggests. The paper was written in 1989, when McDonnell was 34 and a grad student at Regent University. Titled "The Republican Party's Vision for the Family: the Compelling Issue of the Decade," the thesis has ignited controversy around McDonnell in the past few days after the Washington Post published a story about it over the weekend. In a 90-minute conference call with reporters, McDonnell said he does not believe all the things he wrote then and regrets some of them. "I was simply doing an academic analysis of the impact of the changes in society," McDonnell said. "There are many things in there that I don't subscribe to at all today." Those things include statements about the detrimental affect on families of mothers going to work outside the home, and the duty of government to "statutorially and procedurally prefer married couples over co-habitators, homosexuals or fornicators." In the thesis, McDonnell sought to explore the reasons for a breakdown in the traditional family unit and solutions for how to protect family structures. Overall, the thesis is perhaps not out of line with many conservatives' beliefs, in that it argues for family and church as the institutions best suited to protect the family structure in society, instead of relying on government programs. McDonnell argued that government policy should interfere in family choices as little as possible; use any government-funded public benefits to promote freedom of choice in housing and education; and that social welfare is more the responsibility of private-sector groups, like churches, than of the government. McDonnell said his thesis was "influenced in large measure by the debate of the time," when trends of no-fault divorce and two-working-parent families were relatively new. He does oppose abortion and same-sex marriage, and he still views the two-parent family as the "bedrock of society," McDonnell told reporters, but he opposes any discrimination against a person based on sexual orientation and believes that "the ordinary civil rights of all Virginians should be protected."
Date published: 9/1/2009
Mandrake
(posted by
raymaelynn57
, Sep. 3, 2009 8:19 am)
You got that right buddy, it ain't over till its over. However, he is a liar as is Tom Ridge. What a sad case of events for both of these guys. Backpeddling, lying, saying what they said ain't what they said and/or no longer beleiving it. I lost all my respect for Tom Ridge as he sold his soul, just like Colin Powell did, to the GOP. They compromised their backbones. McDonnell has always been a jerk and no one listened five years ago that he was a bigot.
"It ain't over until
(posted by
Mandrake
, Sep. 2, 2009 8:05 pm)
full figure lady sings......
Mandrake
(posted by
raymaelynn57
, Sep. 2, 2009 3:52 pm)
I know you and I have been around the barn a few times in disagreement and we don't think too much alike on some things. With this being said, let me offer you a bit of advice on this McDonnell thing, I would not put myself out too far on a line with this guy. This is the tip of the iceberg and I think he is going to be another big embarrassment for the party and those that back him. Seriously, there is going to be so much to follow with him. How he made it this far is unreal. He is toast.
MOJOMAMA
(posted by
raymaelynn57
, Sep. 2, 2009 3:48 pm)
Thanks for your input. What exactly did he say to you? Or did he say anything to you. I think people would like to hear his response, as close as you can remember it. Thanks again for taking the time to do this.
Hmmmm
(posted by
10staffordyears
, Sep. 2, 2009 3:41 pm)
swaying from his 'thesis beliefs' may render him an inconsequential 'flip flopper' - remember those? So why should I believe his 'great' plans for our commonwealth won't be discarded as easily? ... he cites the academic world and the fact he was a student when this was written ... at the age of what .... 32? 34?
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