Deeds uses radio, Internet to attack McDonnell on thesis

R. Creigh Deeds is suggesting in a radio ad that Republican gubernatorial rival Bob McDonnell would "take us back to the Dark Ages," while McDonnell says he's "insulted" by Democratic emphasis on his now-disavowed criticism of working women.

Deeds yesterday continued to spotlight McDonnell's controversial 1989 graduate-school thesis, running a commercial targeting heavily Democratic Northern Virginia that attempts to harness growing voter awareness of the paper's conservative tenets.

In what is supposed to be a conversation, a female asks, "You starting to follow this governor's race in Virginia?" To which a male, alluding to the McDonnell treatise, replies, "You mean Bob McDonnell and his plans to take us back to the Dark Ages?"

Deeds also is launching a Web site, BobMcDonnellBlueprint.com, on which voters can read the paper. Ads by Deeds across the Internet, including popular social-networking sites, are designed to drive Virginians to the disputed thesis.

The Deeds-McDonnell duel over the dissertation has raged for nearly a week. It has enlivened the previously low-key campaign, but has yet to dramatically alter the race. Polls show McDonnell still ahead, though his lead is in single digits.

Fighting back, McDonnell released -- in all broadcast markets except pricey Washington -- a television commercial that emphasizes his ties to family, his suburban origins and issues overshadowed by the recent dustup.

McDonnell also traveled to reliably Republican Chesterfield County to talk up job creation and the economy. After meeting at a coffee shop with about 50 supporters, McDonnell responded to the Democratic attack.

"I am insulted that Creigh Deeds and the Democrats would suggest that I don't support working women," said McDonnell, a former Virginia attorney general and former delegate from Virginia Beach. "I fully support working women."

In the thesis, written as a student of law and public policy at Pat Robertson-founded Regent University, McDonnell described working women as "detrimental" to the family.

McDonnell says he has discarded the view, arguing now that the contributions of women are important to the workplace and politics. He cites, among other things, his older daughter's career in the Army. She is a combat veteran of Iraq who now works for a high-tech defense contractor.

In the thesis, McDonnell, who has never concealed his social and religious conservatism but has struck a more moderate stance as a candidate for governor, also fretted about gays and government-sanctioned use of contraception.

Appearing with women supporters at the state Capitol, Deeds conceded his views have changed on controversial issues. He resisted some restrictions on firearms sales, but after the Virginia Tech massacre he pushed for compromise on controls on sales at gun shows.

Asked whether McDonnell's expressed support of his daughter's military and civilian careers is evidence that the Republican, too, can change his mind, Deeds replied, "We are all works in progress."

Deeds, a state senator from Bath County, went on to depict McDonnell as consistently hostile to women in the workplace, noting that he had opposed legislation urging pay equity for men and women.

Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 649-6814 or .

Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or .