McDonnell - Back to GOP Basics

by Brendan Miniter
Richmond, Va.

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So how did he win a state that Obama Democrats had thought was part of a permanent national shift to the left? "I ran on Virginia issues," Mr. McDonnell says, "which were jobs and the economy." These were, he says, "far and away" the top issues. Virginia's unemployment rate, 6.6%, is lower than the 10% national average, but it is up sharply from its low of below 3% in 2007.

"In the worst economy in 80 years," says Mr. McDonnell, "it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what we ought to be talking about." He adds: "I do think that talking about the excesses of the federal government is something you are going to hear Republican and Democratic candidates for statewide office talk about for a while because I think you're going to see a resurgence of discussions of federalism, about the 10th Amendment, about limits on federal power, and federal spending."

Given his emphasis on economic issues, I ask Mr. McDonnell whether he was able to win because he downplayed his social conservatism. He brushes off the question. "I am 100% prolife . . . We were unequivocal about our position on marriage," he says.