MCDONNELL’S THESIS—AND HOW HE ACTED ON IT—DISQUALIFIES HIM FROM SUPPORT BY ARLINGTON VOTERS

Thursday, October 1, 2009

(Arlington County Democratic Committee)

Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell’s thesis on "The Republican Party's Vision for the Family” reflects what he still wishes all Virginia’s families could be like.

Written at the age of 34 (the same age at which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence), McDonnell’s thesis formed the blueprint for the way he voted on many occasions in the Virginia House of Delegates. See the Deeds campaign’s correlation of McDonnell’s thesis to his bills for a more detailed accounting.

McDonnell’s thesis embodies a “father-knows-best” nostalgia for an America that existed in the 1950’s, and to which McDonnell wishes America would return. Since the thesis was revealed at the end of August, McDonnell has been desperately trying to deny its current relevance. And, no wonder!

As Arlington Democratic activists, you probably know all about the thesis by now, but please don’t assume that all Arlington voters are as plugged in as you are. To the contrary, you should spend as much time as you can every day between now and the November 3 election telling everyone you meet about this thesis, and urging them to do the same with those they meet.

Please help us to continue to disseminate these facts about McDonnell’s thesis and his legislative record between now and the election:

McDonnell opposes Griswold v. Connecticut (pages 7-8), the landmark Supreme Court case that established the right to birth control, and he repeatedly voted in the Virginia legislature in favor of limiting access to birth control (in 2002 and 2003, for instance).

McDonnell’s thesis describes "feminism" as one of the "real enemies of the traditional family," and criticizes federal child-care programs because they "subsidize a dynamic new trend of working women and feminists that is ultimately detrimental to the family."

McDonnell’s thesis urges that "every level of government should statutorily and procedurally prefer married couples over cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators," because "the cost of sin should fall on the sinner, not the taxpayer."

McDonnell declares that “leaders must correct the conventional folklore about the separation of church and state,” calling on “government at all levels [to] unleash the power of the church” in order to “give the gospel…that is the only solution for the hopeless” such as by government subsidization of churches (”the church can permissibly use federal funds to promote traditional family values”).

McDonnell’s thesis concludes with a fifteen-point action plan including a vow to “chip away” at abortion until it is illegal even in cases of rape and incest. True to this action plan, McDonnell sponsored 35 different pieces of legislation in the Virginia House of Delegates to take away a woman’s right to choose.

Sharply at odds with the smooth moderate image he is now trying to peddle to Arlington voters, McDonnell wrote in the thesis that “Leadership…does not require giving voters what they want,” and that “the profound wisdom of God’s law for the family will appear as folly to foolish men.”

Please continue to help us spread the word to Arlington voters about this dangerously radical man and the threat his election as Governor would mean to Arlington values and ideals.

PETER ROUSSELOT