Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, is holding a conference call, discussing the Post’s A1 story on his thesis, and other topics:
“I never thought many people would ever read or care about my thesis. I think that until recently, only five people had read it, two of which were myself and my wife. I haven’t thought about it in several decades.”
“I am disappointed but not surprised that my opponent wnats to make this a central issue in the campaign; he continues to backtrack from his pledge at first deabte that the focus of thecampaign be what’s improtant to Virginians, jobs economy, transportation and education. For the past month, he’s made clear he wants to make social issues the central issue.”
“Not to insult any of you, but I bet a lot of you are younger than me and don’t remember the 1980s very well. A lot of this thesis of it was written in 1988 while I was interning with the Republican House Policy Committee, when Ronald Reagan was president. I really believed family was the bedrock of society. I had several kids at the time, and had read the writings of Ronald Reagan, which declared that family was the base of society — a comment sounds just like Tim Kaine back in 2004, who said family was the backbone of society.”
“In the thesis, I wanted to look at government policy and how it affected the family… I think a strong, two-parent family is ideal environment for raising children.”
“This thesis was an academic exercise. Twenty years later, the relevant question is, ‘what is the record of the candidates?’ I bring to this race a long record in public service.”
“What did I do with some of those concepts that I expressed as a college student in 1989? It’s probably best reflected in the welfare reform bill in 1995. It was a historic reform and it became a model for the welfare reform bill that President Clinton signed into law. It requires work, but I also fought to make sure that there was health care and transportation and benefits so that single women with children could get back on their feet.”
“Like most people, a lot of my views have changed since 1989. I’ve raised five kids and dealt with many of their challenges. Many times, my wife was working outside the home. My daughters who are my two oldest daughters, I have pushed them and encouraged them to get masters degrees, and both have, one in public safety, one in computer science. I wanted them to excel and to get a good job and be self-sufficient.”
McDonnell only two percent of the bills he has introduced in his career have dealt with abortion.
“I believe government should not discriminate based on sex, or race, or creed or on sexual orientation. That was my policy in my office, and I said I wanted the best and brightest.”
“I believe marriage should be reserved for one man and one woman.”
“I am fully supportive of women working in the workplace.”
“I support covenant marriage, a position that it also supported by Governor Kaine… I did not advocate the repeal of no-fault divorce.”
“My pro-life views are based on my Catholic faith.”
“As governor, I would do nothing to change any policies or ban the sale of contraception.”
“We’re going to continue to talk about jobs, and the economy, and education, and an energy reform plan, and transportation.”
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WTOP reporter accuses him of only disavowing “one or two parts.” McDonnell spent about 35 minutes laying out his views on all of the issues mentioned above.