LT. GOVERNOR RACE
Bill Bolling (R) – 56.41% (winner)
Jody Wagner (D) – 43.51%

ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE
Ken Cuccinelli (R) – 57.52% (winner)
Steve Shannon (D) – 42.39%

13th DISTRICT HOUSE OF DELEGATES RACE (Prince William Campus) – 100% of Precincts Reporting
John Bell (D) – 38.6%
Bob Marshall (R) – 61.3% (winner)

37th DISTRICT HOUSE OF DELEGATES RACE (Fairfax Campus) – 100% of Precincts Reporting
David Bulova (D) – 67.56% (winner)
Christopher DeCarlo (I) – 24.74%

40th DISTRICT HOUSE OF DELEGATES RACE – 100% of Precincts Reporting
Susan Conrad (D)* – 36.81%
Timothy Hugo (R) – 63.06% (winner)

47th DISTRICT HOUSE OF DELEGATES RACE (Arlington Campus) – 100% of Precincts Reporting
Eric Brescia (R) – 31.87%
Patrick Hope (D) – 63.89% (winner)
Josh Ruebner (I) – 4.11%

*George Mason University graduate student

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell has a long history of championing conservative positions on social issues like gay marriage, but with Democratic opponent Creigh Deeds stating his belief marriage is “between a man and a woman,” the campaign for the Governor’s Mansion is proceeding with a uniformity of opinion from both sides on one of the Commonwealth’s most divisive and emotional issues.

With neither side taking up the cause of gay rights, some voters feel as if their choices have been curtailed.

“I think Deeds is too conservative, but he’s the more liberal of the two,” said George Mason University senior Phil Dudley. “I’m for gay marriage and I feel that gay people should have the same rights as straight people. As for the Virginia Marriage Amendment, I disagree with it. Gay people should be able to visit their significant other in the hospital, should be able to have access to insurance, should be treated the same as everyone else. Gay rights isn’t the deciding factor in my vote, but it’s something I would take into account.”

Most students were quick to voice opposition to the 2006 Virginia Marriage Amendment, which not only bars same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth but also declared that the state “shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage.” The amendment effectively outlawed civil unions.

“If you have two consenting adults, marriage is fine,” said freshman Kelly Harrington. “I’ve had teachers who were gay and known other people who were gay, and they deserve to get married if they want to. If there were a choice between the candidates, I would be more likely to vote for the pro-gay rights one, but with all the problems we have that probably wouldn’t be the first thing I’d think about.”

Alejandro Asin, a co-chair with Mason’s Pride Alliance, said that while the group was primarily focused with providing a safe space for Mason students to discuss sexuality and gender issues, it nonetheless “supports gay marriage.”

“Forcing marriage won’t promote tolerance,” Asin said. “It won’t affect people staying underground their whole lives, but we’re very much for same-sex marriage.”

Asin decried what he saw as the lack of diversity among the candidates’ positions on the issue, saying he thought it left the gay community with no real representation.

“I don’t believe either party helps us,” Asin admitted. “But the Democrats are a little bit better. Both political candidates are trying to play moderate, and it’s always been that way. Theoretically the Democrats are more in favor of LGBT and gay rights, but they keep moving close to the middle, trying to be in the center. They invoke civil rights, but they don’t want to go all the way because they’re worried about looking too liberal.”

Thomas Francis, a Fellowship of Catholic University Students missionary at Mason, said that he “heartily supports” the Virginia Marriage Amendment.

“I support the traditional understanding of marriage, namely, that it is limited to one man and one woman,” Francis stated. “The Catholic Church loves and cares for everyone with an attraction to members of the same gender. It wants for them what it wants for every person: to find true happiness in a close relationship with Jesus Christ and to be holy life according to the way of life that Jesus revealed.”

Francis conceded that many young people seemed to be in favor of gay marriage, but was adamant that fact didn’t change his views.

“My faith plays a central role in my life,” said Francis. “It’s a set of beliefs I subscribe to, and I shouldn’t have to change it based on what sphere I’m in.”

Brach Cobb, a fourth-year graduate student, agreed.

“I don’t see the candidates’ opposition to gay marriage as a problem,” he said. “I believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, and I hold that in higher esteem than gay marriage. I don’t have a problem with gay people. I’m a Christian and that’s where I stand from a biblical viewpoint, and my faith plays the main part in that.”

Citing what he called “the worst economic downturn since at least 1982,” George Mason University economics Professor Bryan Caplan said that Republican candidates would likely have a slight advantage over Democratic and Independent candidates going into the 2009 state elections. This is good news for Bob McDonnell (R) and could help explain why Creigh Deeds (D) is trailing in the polls.

“Polls are showing McDonnell leading Deeds in the polls,” Caplan said. “And nationally, Independents are leaning towards Republicans. At first, there was an attitude that [George W.] Bush was president when the crisis began and so it was his fault, but more recently there’s been the feeling that these two presidents share equal blame, that while Bush’s policies may have caused the meltdown, Obama’s have prolonged it.”

Caplan was critical of President Barak Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package, which he says has “done nothing.”

“The stimulus doesn’t actually increase spending,” he said.

Caplan argued that because much of the nearly $800 billion for the stimulus came from government bonds, the majority of which are held by the American people, the federal government was marshalling resources that individuals would otherwise have spent on their own.

“They’re trying to duplicate the effects of the private market,” Caplan said, “and if they do that successfully, then it’s not harmful—it’s useless, but it’s not harmful. Government doesn’t work that way, though; they spend money on stupid things, on things that don’t make sense, things that most people couldn’t explain. They don’t do as good a job as the market would do on its own. In fact, some economists believe that the stimulus has actually made the situation worse.”

Caplan noted that the 2008-2009 downturn was unique among modern recessions because of the presence of deflation. Typically, he said, the U.S. economy experiences two to three percent annual inflation, but has recently undergone 1.4 percent deflation.

The cause, Caplan hypothesized, was most likely individuals hoarding their money. When people do not spent as much, demand for products goes down, prices are lowered, and, in effect, a dollar becomes worth more.

For these reasons, Caplan said, the solution to unemployment was to cut wages.

“Excessive wages are the cause of unemployment,” said Caplan. “If there’s two percent deflation, you’ve just effectively gotten a two-percent pay raise. That also means that if your employer cuts wages by two percent, you haven’t really lost money, but workers don’t see it that way. What’s easier to deal with, though: losing two percent in wages or losing your job? What’s going to be harder on a family?”

Caplan said that the federal government could take several basic steps to put the nation on the road to economic recovery, such as cutting payroll taxes for employers and halting the Federal Reserve’s payment of interest on bank reserves, which he said encouraged banks to hold their money rather than loan it.

George Mason University women have reacted negatively to Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell penning a 1989 thesis in which he criticized feminists and homosexuals and said that women who worked outside the home were “detrimental to society.”

McDonnell has dismissed the thesis as an “academic paper” and said that his views have changed, but not everyone is buying it.

“As a scholar of comparative social policy, his prescriptions regarding women and the workplace are just dreadful,” said Mariely Lopez-Santana, a professor with the George Mason University Public and International Affairs Department. “He argues that he has changed positions, but letting your wife work and having women in your staff is, in my opinion, not a change—he is just reacting to the needs of our times and to his political ambitions.”

Others agreed.

“I feel that this thesis is very detrimental to all women,” said senior Katherine Papadopoulos. “Particularly the statement that complained about women working outside the home. Women who need to work in order to provide for their households should be commended for their work ethic and commitment to their families.”

Freshman Marlene Meza expressed confusion at McDonnell’s ideas.

“I don’t understand how that makes sense,” she said. “It’s the 21st century and we have equal gender rights. Calling women who have multiple roles ‘detrimental to society’ goes against American values.”

Both Meza and Papadopoulos said that, though they disagreed with the thesis, it was dated and would not affect their decision with regard to the election.

Lopez-Santana thought that the scandal would have an impact on the election.

“For those who did not have any information about him or who weren’t going to vote, this controversy will lead them to the polls—whether to vote for him or against him,” she said. “This is certainly relevant if we take into account the fact that voter turnout tends to be lower at the state level than in federal elections.”  

]]> http://masonvotes.gmu.edu/2009/09/26/political-minute-sept-21-25/feed/ 1 http://masonvotes.gmu.edu/2009/09/24/submit-your-questions-to-va-gubernatorial-candidates/ http://masonvotes.gmu.edu/2009/09/24/submit-your-questions-to-va-gubernatorial-candidates/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:30:11 +0000 Cay Smith http://masonvotes.onmason.com/?p=1364 Gubernatorial candidates Creigh Deeds (D) and Bob McDonnell (R) will be taking audience-submitted questions in an event sponsored by ABC7, POLITICO and YouTube.

Students in particular are being encouraged to submit a question and vote for submission. Those submissions will be answered by the candidates on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. on ABC7 and politico.com.

Virginia gubernatorial candidates Bob McDonnell (R) and Creigh Deeds (D) debated transportation, taxes, gay adoption rights and social issues this morning in McLean, Va. Throughout the debate, McDonnell tried to define himself as a friend of business, women and the economy while Deeds went negative, spending a great deal of time on defining his opponent as a foe of women and a flip-flopper.

Although McDonnell has tried to move past his recent thesis debacle, Deeds pressed the issue several times, inserting it into topics that seemingly had no association to the social themes discussed in the thesis.

On the issue of health care, McDonnell admitted that he and his family had spent years without health insurance while he was attending law school. “I think we have the greatest health care system in the world… and turning that over to the federal government… is absolutley the wrong thing to do,” said McDonnell who believes the answer lies in employee based health insurance and focusing incentives on prevention based care. Deeds, on the other hand said that he supports the president’s plan and individual mandates with exemptions for small business owners.

While both candidates promised they would not raise taxes if elected, they each insisted the other would need to do so in order to fund their agendas.

An unexpected moment occurred when Deeds said, “There’s a hint of racism in some of the opposition to President Obama that is crystal clear.”

McDonnell appeared relaxed and calm, Deeds’ stance was rigid and his responses abrasive. Overall, it appeared that McDonnell won the debate but his campaign will have to wait to see if they can relay that win to the larger Virginia audience. With Deeds trailing McDonnell in the polls that task might not be too difficult.

View the below videos to hear the candidates’ post-debate spin.

In a WTOP interview last Friday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell dropped the F-bomb. “I’m going to find other ways to be able to fund transportation. I’ve outlined 12 f–king funding mechanisms that are creative, that are entrepreneurial,” said McDonnell.

Taylor Thornley, press assistant for the McDonnell campaign, made the following statement to Mason Votes today, “Long and short, the audio clip comes from a friendly conversation on-air between Bob McDonnell and Mark about transportation. At one point Bob was speaking quickly and in trying to say “funding mechanism”, he stumbled and accidentally said another word. It was an unfortunate stumble over the words, and Bob McDonnell apologizes for the mistake. Anyone who spends any time around Bob knows he does not use such language. It was an accident and it is that simple. However, I do want to note [Christian] that it does say a lot about the Deeds campaign that they would spend so much time and energy aggressively pushing this absolutely trivial matter to every blog and media outlet they can think of. It’s disappointing that they have so little regard for Virginia’s voters, and the issues that they care about.”

McDonnell audio from the blog “NotLarrySabato”