McDonnell blasted for controversial research paper

Source: CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Eager to draw attention Bob McDonnell's conservative roots, campaign advisers to Democrat Creigh Deeds on Monday called McDonnell's newly-discovered 1989 graduate thesis a "devastating" revelation that threatens to sink the Republican's campaign for the Virginia governor's mansion.

The 93-page research paper — first revealed in Sunday's Washington Post — articulated a Christian conservative worldview that criticized "cohabitators, homosexuals and fornicators" and described working women and feminists "detrimental" to the family.

<snip>

"This paper laid out very explicity his vision for the role of government, his vision for the for a social agenda that should dominate governace, and it even went beyond just a personal political philosophy," Elleithee said. "It had a 15-point action plan for how to implement that philosophy."

The thesis was called "The Republican Party's Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of the Decade." In it, McDonnell wrote that working women are "detrimental" the the family; that feminism is among "the real enemies of the traditional family"; and that the "purging" of religious influence in public schools is damaging to healthy families.

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/08/31/mcdonnell-blasted-for-controversial-research-paper/

---

Could this help in narrowing the ever widening gap? I can see lots of independents and conservative dems moving away from this guy. But it will only strengthen the repug vote, since this is how they actually see the world.

Here's the latest poll trend for this race:

http://www.pollster.com/polls/va/09-va-gov-ge-mvd.php?xml=http://www.pollster.com/flashcharts/content/xml/09VAGovGEMvD.xml&choices=McDonnell,Deeds&phone=&ivr=&internet=&mail=&smoothing=&from_date=&to_date=&min_pct=&max_pct=&grid=&points=1&lines=1&colors=McDonnell-BF0014,Deeds-2247AF

They should get together with the taliban and form their perfect world at the north pole.

just to not go extinct!

I grew up in the South in the 70s/80s and there was no religious influence in my public school. In fact, my teachers were wonderful professionals who did a phenomenal job educating me. Again, let me state I lived in the South where there was a Baptist Church on every corner.

All this crap about teaching "intelligent" design along with evolution is a tool of the right-wing nuts of the 90s. They are hate-filled, ignorant people. They operate on the same principles as the ignorant majority that fueled the Inquisitions. The only real difference is they can't tie people to the stake and burn them alive now. However, they can shoot people in church as proof of their pro-life beliefs. They shot George Tiller in his church. How "Christian" of them. Their god always sanctions their actions because they do them in his name.

references, but I was raised strong Southern Baptist and wouldn't have recognized them if I'd seen them--due to my religious indoctrination. I suspect the reason we didn't have much of it was because the superchristians did not yet feel threatened by those who were different from them.

Your last paragraph is accurate. Deadly accurate. Unfortunately.

"McDonnell is a right-wing nut" to catch him. One thing he might try is some solid ideas that show he's really different than McDonnell. For instance, how about some real ideas to deal with difficult transportation problems? But that would require some balls.

I'll be voting for Deeds, but I can't say I'm too excited about it.

His thesis would sound about right to lots of folks there, unless they're suspicious of book-learnin'. I say this as someone who was born and raised there.

But yeah, pin him down on that. Make him defend or retract his comments. It'll make the moderates think twice about him.

..............and fucking damn well proud of it!!!!!!!!!!!!

That rates pretty high on my vile-o-meter, even if he did choose to back off on some of the language (and rightly so!).

Does anyone know what subject the paper was in? I couldn't pick that out of the article; what was he studying?

Also, for those who were in academia at the time - he was complaining about the "academic and political thought of the time when it was written." What do you guys have to say about said thought at the time? My university experience has only been since 1999, and I was extremely lucky with my undergraduate school in managing to miss the wackier extremes at either ends. (Graduate school, on the other hand...)