Three Ways to Lose

Candidate McDonnell would like for nothing better than for his thesis issue to go away. Anti will just do its small part to see that that doesn’t happen. Some 18 year old posting his world view in a college essay might be forgiven. A 34 year old father who is a vet, not so easily overlooked. McDonnell shows us that as a younger man, he was an anachronism. 20 years later, things haven’t gotten a bit better, despite the attempt at the make-over.

See Bob’s Blueprint. This new ad takes a close, interactive look at some of the political implications of McDonnell’s world view.

Earlier in the week, the damage control went pretty much like so:

According to the Washington Post, former state GOP chairman Patrick M. McSweeney has stated that there are three ways to lose an election:

“One is you can state a position that is controversial and offend a lot of people. Second, you can not take a position and offend people who want leaders. And third, you can back away from a previously held view. But the worst thing to do is to lose votes in all three of those areas.”

McDonnell spoke to reporters for nearly 90 minutes today and also released a list of women supporters. However, women aren’t his only problem. Much has been made of legislation that denied gays rights. ASNew at the Virginia Democrat claims:

McDonnell said his beliefs against same-sex marriage had not changed, though “any other normal civil liberties should be fully protected” for gay couples.

Unfortunately, Bob McDonnell’s record over the years says — no, it loudly screams — something else entirely.

in 2004, Mr. McDonnell sought to block the reappointment of a Newport News Circuit Judge named Verbina Askew because she was allegedly gay. McDonnell, of course, is not an idiot. He went to great pains to assert that the judge’s sexual orientation did not matter to him; rather, the fact that she may have violated Virginia anti-sodomy statute in force at the time, which prohibited oral and anal sex, was a factor to consider in her reappointment. Said McDonnell at the time, “It [possible sodomy] certainly raises some questions about the qualifications to serve as a judge.” McDonnell also said, “There is certain homosexual conduct that is in violation of the law,” McDonnell said. “I’m not telling you I would disqualify a judge per se if he said he was gay. I’m talking about their actions.” (Incidentally, this was the context for the infamous incident in which Mr. McDonnell was asked whether he had ever violated the statute, and he hilariously responded, “Not that I can recall

The Virginia Democrat outlines many instances where it appears that McDonnell is anti-gay and recommends that state government be used to repress gays.

McDonnell’s base will continue to support him in all probability. Who else do they have to vote for? If McDonnell equivocates too much, the base might stay home. It is the women and moderates that McDonnell must not alienate. That’s going to be a tricky thing to do.

Meanwhile, it is September. The election is November 4. The election is light years away and much can happen between September 1 and November 4. I place no bets.

Does McDonnell have a credibility issue? what are his strong points to the Antibvbl contributors? How does McDonnell put out the fire? 70 blogs picked up this story.