In this morning's papers across Virginia, there's an article about GOP governor candidate Bob McDonnell's Regent University thesis in which he espouses his views of feminists as detrimental to the family, and a few other views that won't sit well with some women. Yes, these views are 20 years old and he claims his views have evolved over time; in fact, he has worked to pass some working mom-friendly legislation. McDonnell's opponent has worked to paint him as a Jerry Falwell-esque character and points to the Regent University connection as proof. (Regent is not the sum total of his education experience-he got his undergraduate degree from Notre Dame and a master's from BU).
Putting aside the content of the thesis, it's interesting that this 20-year old thesis is being pulled out, dusted off and trumpeted by the Washington Post at the time that Deeds' campaign is floundering somewhat. We learned last year that past associations and expressions of candidates really didn't matter.
So should this matter? I fear it will.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
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10 comments:
That's the thing about running for office, opposition research digs up comments you made in the third grade. Unless you've got a compliant press you can be dog meat pretty quick.
And when will we be able to read Michelle Obama's Princeton diatribe or check out her husbands college grades?
Geez, do the media and the Democrats have no pride? They routinely condemn attacks like this, saying people can change, and then ignore their own statements when they do things like this.
It is more than apparent that Deeds and his cronies are not concerned with giving the people of Virginia a race based on issues and trust, but rather one based on finger pointing and attacks.
Hey, this is fair game ladies and gentlemen. Fair game. Just like bringing up Jim Webb's twenty year old comments on women in the military. Politics is for grownups and people get hurt. Gotta be tough and figure out a strategy that takes this head on--perhaps exactly as TDP suggests, but bringing up twenty year old plus views and words of The One and his lady....
Obviously matters like this are unimportant too dismissed by the media if the candidate is left of center. And until things change to where Americans can get unbiased reporting en masse, right of center candidates will lose these battles.
TDP, is Michelle Obama running for office -- why are you waiting to read her school papers? I still haven't seen GWB's HBS grades (and don't care to): many schools don't release grades publicly. I think most of the few people who do consider college GPA in assessing the qualifications of a politician do so to confirm some other real world indication of intelligence or dedication or commitment. I don't know anyone who has seriously considered GPA for any candidate for office, on the right or the left. If anything, I suspect it's used primarily to needle the other side.
As for McDonnell, Sally, I don't think the thesis makes a difference or holds much weight and certainly won't bear the media onslaught Obama received when called into question on the basis of having a neighbor with a troubling past. The first time I heard of college work being called out as evidence of something was by anti-Obama folks during his race, so this may be the new approach. I suspect early works are trotted out as a data point to confirm or conflict with where the person stands today, a way of determining if there's a consistency in the candidate's thinking process or if there's some radical shift in position for the purpose of obtaining an office under false pretenses that might require explanation. There's a weak argument that what you publish in something as supposedly well-considered and intentional as a thesis should be considered in the balance, and having such extremist views in publication might be harmful to someone running on a conflicting progressive platform, but McDonnell certainly isn't and his policy goals and record during his tenure in the VA House of Delegates are far more indicative of his position than some early theoretical position paper, in school or even in his early years in office.
GHP
I thought we all got a comparison of the Bush college grades and Kerry's during their election contest and it turned out that Bush did slightly better in his undergrad years than Lurch.
As for Michelle, she's the one who has been whispering in HIS ear every night at bedtime for the last unknown (actually I guess I could look it up for the sake of my reply, but I don't give a crap) number of years. If her Princeton thesis excoriated Whitey, I'd like to know. Maybe she was the one who said, "Barry baby, there's this great church we ought to go check out, Jeremiah Wright is the name of the minister..."
Plus, I believe the office of the First Lady has a generous budget that the taxpayers are on the hook for. She works for me, and as her employer, I'd like to read her body of work.
Great idea! For the level of scrutiny that TDP requests, what's the logistical process going to be to vet our politician's intimate acquaintances and other associations? Should we set up an investigative sub-committee in the House, perhaps a House Under-the-covers Access Committee (HUAC) to conduct investigations, probes, and hearings to review a submitted list (both from the candidate and through extensive interviews of acquaintances) of past romantic partners to determine if the spouses and other intimates of our politicians might have written papers, published articles, books, screenplays, music, poetry, etc. that promote class warfare, political discontent, sympathy with unsanctioned religious organizations, etc.? We could open the doors to testimony from anyone who might want to voice their suspicions and televise the sessions.
(I'd be curious to see what Michelle Obama's written about James J. Bulger, too.)
"Should we set up an investigative sub-committee in the House..."
Nah, we could just let the investigative journa.... hahahahahahahaha, I'm sorry, what was I thinking?
That the media is there to do your bidding, rather than to report the news? Maybe FoxNews would take up your cause.
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