Gov. Bob McDonnell commented for the first time Tuesday on the controversial GOP ticket in Virginia and called for the Tea Party candidates to campaign with civility and focus on "kitchen-table issues."
The governor said on WTOP that he’d be supporting Cuccinelli and the Republican slate (“they’ll make a good ticket) but that the candidates known best for their extreme social stances should focus on issues like the economy and transportation to win over voters, particularly independent voters.
He did not comment specifically on any of lieutenant governor nominee E.W. Jackson’s incendiary remarks—Jackson once linked Planned Parenthood with the KKK, for instance—but said that the Chesapeake minister is “obviously very passionate about the right to life.”
McDonnell added that Cuccinelli cannot be held responsible for Jackson’s comments.
IN OTHER NEWS:
* As a state senator in 2005, Cuccinelli sent a volunteer to investigate a mostly-female planning meeting for an event dubbed “Sextravaganza” at George Mason University by a student group called “Pro-Choice Patriots.” The event was intended to promote healthy sexual activity, but Cuccinelli condemned the event as something that would promote "every type of sexual promiscuity you can imagine." (Mother Jones)
* Gov. O’Malley’s task force initiative is doing little to quiet the criticism in the Maryland jail scandal. (Washington Post)
* Repairing the broken sewer line that caused the downtown sinkhole on 14th and F will likely cost DC Water nearly $2 million. (Washington City Paper)
* Cuccinelli once suggested that Planned Parenthood is racist for building abortion clinics in low income, predominately black areas, encouraging people to pull out a map and “look where the abortion clinics are.” (Politico)
* A national housing report released Tuesday found that the Washington area has the strongest housing market in the country. (Washington Examiner)
* A committee appointed by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli suggests designating a state agency to help the governor restore felons' civil rights. (News4)
* Gov. Bob McDonnell plans to make a policy announcement of his own Wednesday about restoration of felons' civil rights. (Associated Press)
* Democratic Virginia Senator Mark Warner will not be endorsing Cuccinelli for governor (News4)
* Maryland has two separate databases for gun owners and criminals and because of a difference in the way the data is stored, officials can't cross-reference the two databases to check the gun-ownership records of a convicted felon who should have surrendered his weapons. (Washington Examiner)
