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HEADLINE NEWS
Virginia Gubernatorial candidate says controversial Master's Thesis really wasn't very good
RICHMOND VA. - Republican candidate for Virginia Governor, Robert McDonnell, says the controversy over his 1989 Master's Thesis for Evangelist Pat Robertson's Regent College has been blown out of proportion. The thesis, in which he described working women and feminists as "detrimental" to the family, and said government policy should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators," and described as "illogical" a 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unmarried couples, was actually written over a weekend and was pretty much a "cut and paste" operation from pamphlets laying around the campus. "It was an academic exercise, if you define exercise as eating potato chips on the couch while watching television."
Democratic challenger Creigh Deeds has used the recently discovered thesis to help his lagging campaign. According to Deeds, "Not only did this guy go to Pat Robertson's college, he actually seems to have believed some of the crap spouted by the wacko."
McDonnell says his views have changed over the years. "After I left Robertson's cult, um, college, I discovered pamphlets from other organizations that had different opinions. Throughout my political career I have tried to borrow as many ideas as possible to forge positions that are ambiguous and non-threatening." The Republican nominee continued, "I certainly am not opposed to working women. My wife has had several business ventures, including baking cookies for church bake sales and selling Mary Kay cosmetics."
McDonnell now says the government should not discriminate based on sexual orientation or ban contraceptives. However, he would consider a ban on contraceptives for homosexuals. "Why the hell would they need them? It's a waste of resources. I guess that makes me pro-environment."
The Republican candidate also said about the thesis paper, "That was old McDonnell."
| Virginia Democrats have been sending emails and running
ads featuring statements from McDonnell's thesis paper. One such email reads,
"Actually, we don't care about the positions suggested by McDonnell. The bottom line
is that he would have been expelled from any real college for academic ineptitude." The Virginia Democratic party has filed a motion with the State elections commission to include the full text of the 93 page Master's Thesis on the November ballot so that voters can see "what a moron" McDonnell is. A spokesperson for the elections commission said such an action would likely slow down the voting process, "but hardly anybody actually votes in these odd numbered year elections anyway. So who cares?"
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