McDonnell's Thesis

[Lunar]

It's not a bombshell, but worthy of its own thread.  I'm not sure if he'll ever be able to win a general election nationally, having published this sort of stuff

For what it's worth, Webb has published some truly disgusting stuff himself in his past, and he, similar to McDonnell, simply said that that is no longer what he believes

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/29/AR2009082902434.html?sid=ST2009082902758

At age 34, two years before his first election and two decades before he would run for governor of Virginia, Robert F. McDonnell submitted a master's thesis to the evangelical school he was attending in Virginia Beach in which he described working women and feminists as "detrimental" to the family. He said government policy should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators." He described as "illogical" a 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unmarried couples.

snip

"Further expenditures would be used to subsidize a dynamic new trend of working women and feminists that is ultimately detrimental to the family by entrenching status-quo of nonparental primary nurture of children," he wrote.

snip

The thesis wasn't so much a case against government as a blueprint to change what he saw as a liberal model into one that actively promoted conservative, faith-based principles through tax policy, the public schools, welfare reform and other avenues.

"Leaders must correct the conventional folklore about the separation of church and state," he wrote. "Historically, the religious liberty guarantees of the First Amendment were intended to prevent government encroachment upon the free church, not eliminate the impact of religion on society."

He argued for covenant marriage, a legally distinct type of marriage intended to make it more difficult to obtain a divorce. He advocated character education programs in public schools to teach "traditional Judeo-Christian values" and other principles that he thought many youths were not learning in their homes. He called for less government encroachment on parental authority, for example, redefining child abuse to "exclude parental spanking." He lamented the "purging of religious influence" from public schools. And he criticized federal tax credits for child care expenditures because they encouraged women to enter the workforce.

"Further expenditures would be used to subsidize a dynamic new trend of working women and feminists that is ultimately detrimental to the family by entrenching status-quo of nonparental primary nurture of children," he wrote.

He went on to say feminism is among the "real enemies of the traditional family."

snip

McDonnell was widely quoted at the time as saying that homosexual activity raised questions about a person's qualifications to be a judge. Spokesman Tucker Martin said McDonnell was misquoted and does not consider homosexuality a disqualifying factor for judgeships or other jobs.

[Lunar]

Obviously he holds the same views now he held twenty years ago.

Wake me up when you apply this standard to Obama's much more recent positions on guns.

Apples and oranges, no one is claiming that Obama's position has "evolved" or changed, just that they were and remain faux positions

[Lunar]

This is not news. McDonnell is a right-wing theocrat who's managed to give himself an image makeover and pose as a "moderate".

to me, the likely victor in one of the year's two races... having not only declared, but academically argued for 93 pages that, among other things, working women have harmed society seems pretty extreme, but obviously that's just me

it could be good in an ad

[Lunar]

and lunar you mentioned jim webb.  it is pretty goddamned hypocritical to denounce mcdonnell and not denounce webb.   ive denounced them both, obviously.

how am I hypocritical if I was the one who mentioned it and called it disgusting?

[Lunar]

It's important to note that McDonnell was 34 when he wrote this too.

[Lunar]

Sotomayor's "wise latina" comments WOULD have hurt her if she were running for elected office

[Lunar]

Dan,

Reading the article, it says:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/usa/virginia/vanews99.htm

McDonnell was quoted in a published news report this week suggesting that a person who commits sodomy, which is illegal in Virginia, might not be qualified to be a judge. McDonnell said Thursday his comments were "mischaracterized."

I think your comment regarding that she should be impeached under sodomy laws is wrong, at least according to the Post.  Do you have a source for further study on the issue?

[Lunar]

Soon after calling the Supreme Court's decision on contraceptives "illogical," McDonnell blasts "the perverted notion of liberty that each individual should be able to live out his sexual life in any way he chooses without interference from the state" (pg. 15).

McDonnell goes on to refer to family as a "God-ordained government," and asserts that there's no need for government policy to treat "alternative lifestyle living arrangements" equally to the traditional family (pg. 19).

McDonnell adds: "[W]hen the exercise of liberty takes the shape of pornography, drug abuse, or homosexuality, the government must restrain, punish, and deter" (pg. 26).

And he blasts efforts to "redefine family by allowing special rights," not just for "homosexuals," but for "single-parent unwed mothers" (pgs. 72-73).

McDonnell also criticizes the prevalence of "no-fault divorce," referring to the "pain for women and children when the [marriage] covenant can be so easily discarded" (pg. 73).

And he attacks the phenomenon of women working outside the home, writing that the proliferation in the day care industry was caused by the desire of some women "to break their perceived stereotypical role bonds and seek workplace equality and individual self-actualization." Asks McDonnell: "Must government subsidize the choices of a generation with an increased appetite for the materialistic components of the American Dream?" (pg. 45)

"Further expenditures" on child care, he wrote "would be used to subsidize a dynamic new trend of working women and feminists that is ultimately detrimental to the family by entrenching status-quo (sic) of non parental primary nurture of children" (pg. 46).

McDonnell also comes across as a zealous, ideologically driven opponent of the New Deal and the welfare state, utterly unreconciled to the principle of using government to provide a safety net for the neediest -- calling it a socialist plot to destroy the family. He writes:

[E]very totalitarian movement of the twentieth century has tried to destroy the family. The modern American experience can be seen as an ideological battle between the forces of democratic capitalism and socialism, with the latter's attempt to "substitute the power of the state for the rights, responsibilities, and authority of the family." (pg. 10)
And later he writes that one proposed bill's intention to target funds to low-income families "seems to perpetuate the income redistribution philosophy of the Great Society which has already produced its harvest of dependency, anomie and irresponsibility."

Lest there be any mistake, he adds: "Once differential tax rates and benefit distributions are accepted in principle, there is but an arbitrary legislative line that inhibits the slide to socialism" (pgs. 46-47).

Of course, that puts him right in line with the contemporary Republican party.

McDonnell seemed to understand this stuff was political dynamite -- and as such, he said that Republicans should act on this agenda regardless of whether the people wanted it:

It is also becoming clear in modern culture that the voting American mainstream is not willing to accept a true pro-family ideologue...Leadership, however, does not require giving voters what they want, for whimsical and capricious government would result. Republican legislators must exercise independent professional judgment as statesmen, to make decisions that are objectively right, and proved effective. (pg. 61)

[Lunar]

I find it amusing that Stampever is trying to make excuses for this theocrat.

No, just trying to inject some logic into the discussion.

notice the post after yours.  the universe has a way of counter-balancing all forces.

[Lunar]

Cynic, there's a reason why McDonnell held an hour long defensive press conference, is distributing talking points, is walking back on some of the more controversial things in the essay, and a lot of smart partisans on both sides are generally either trumpeting it or trying to halt the damage, simply railing against 20 year old liberal Democrats not understanding that IT'S VIRGINIA is hackneyed and boring.

[Lunar]

He didn't leak it to the press as far as I've read, he mentioned a thesis about social welfare he did in answer to another question and the press found it and treated it like an Exposé.

Frankly, a lot of the quotes from his thesis are going to show up in attack ads, and since McDonnell has already had to disavow what he said about working women in his thesis, it seems the campaigns are treating it seriously...

As I said in the topic post though, I do not think this is a bombshell, simply worthy of its own thread.

[Lunar]

you can if everyone else stays home, which is still a real fear

the DNC just gave Deeds $5 million in cash today just to promote the thesis story some more