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.
There's a reason why McDonnell leaked it to the press on the slowest news week of the year when nobody is paying attention - as an attempt to get in front of the issue when few are watching so that when his opponent brings it up, it's already old news.
The essay appears to contain fairly mainstream social conservative thought of the late 1980s. Some of his points, arguably, still are mainstream social conservative thought today - especially on the sanctity of marriage and importance of the traditional nuclear family. I know concepts like those sound like they are Martian to Northeast and West Coast social liberals (who are the most vocal on this forum), but some of it still plays well in Virginia outside of NoVa. Remember - according most recent polls, McCain voters are more likely to get out to vote than Obama voters. Virginia McCain voters generally weren't social liberals.
However, this is the type of thing that could help fire up liberals and alienate moderates. This isn't the Virginia of old, you can't win on conservatives alone anymore.
