A lesson for conservative candidates everywhere

Two Sundays ago, Bob McDonnell sat behind me in church, and he didn’t appear the least bit suicidal. McDonnell didn’t sing too loud or try to address the congregation when he was introduced. That went a long way toward winning my vote.

It was an especially impressive performance when you realize he’d helped torpedo his own campaign only a few days earlier, when he told the Washington Post where to find his master’s thesis from CBN University (Regent University).

I’ve been trying to analyze his decision and I can’t find a rational explanation. He’s in an interview with Washington Post reporters who are aggressively secular; view Christian social doctrine as bigoted, hateful and backward; voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama; and believe the Virginia’s governor’s race is a referendum on Obama.

McDonnell’s a devout Christian, who attended a university founded by the Post’s favorite religious fanatic: Pat Robertson. His thesis is almost 100 pages and filled with conservative Christian beliefs perfect for taking out of context.

Note to Bob: Let the Post do its own research. Or why not just tell the Post you used to go clubbing with Mark Sanford and be done with it?

Even Michelle Obama had enough sense to try and restrict access to her master’s thesis until after the election – and she’s only the candidate’s wife.

As far as the Post is concerned, VA Republicans are the gift that keeps on giving. First George Allen and now McDonnell. Here’s what McDonnell hath wrought: this area is filled with individuals and groups who oppose everything he stands for, but this opposition is not newsworthy because it’s so predicable.

Feminists, abortionists and homosexuals don’t like McDonnell. Ho Hum.

But Bob’s decision to play librarian gives the Post an excuse to gin up a “controversy” and repeatedly showcase these opinions, as if they were newsworthy, by using a campaign development from a student thesis 20 years ago! It’s a win-win: the Post gets to relive the Allen-Webb campaign and cliched liberals get to recycle their failed ideology.

What the McDonnell campaign should have done was prepare for the potential discovery by putting views from 20 years ago into context for today, and recruit a group of third-party spokespersons prepared to answer any attack.

Then if the thesis surfaces, the campaign is ready to go with prepared remarks and advocates. What you don’t do is hand the enemy a loaded gun, and then act surprised when you get shot.

They tell a story about Huey Long running for governor of Louisiana. He was giving a populist stem-winder in Baton Rouge and then later in the week he was campaigning in more conservative Shreveport. There Huey took a position that was completely opposite.

Everything was fine, except that a traveling salesman had heard Huey in each location. The salesman demanded an immediate explanation.

Huey looked at the salesman and said, “Well, I was lying in Baton Rouge.”

Which is a better response than what McDonnell is using now.

Bob spends 90 minutes on the phone with the death panel at the Post, saying his views have changed. Plus he’s not one of those scary Republicans, because he’s agreed with Tim Kaine and Obama; and some of his best friends are interior decorators.

Great. Now McDonnell looks weak, uncertain and wishy-washy.

Former VA GOP Chairman Pat McSweeney gave McDonnell sage advice when he said you can lose votes by taking a stand and offending people; you can avoid taking a stand and alienate people who want a leader; and you can backpedal from beliefs you previously held. But God help the candidate who does all three.

McDonnell’s answer should have been:

“This is 2009 and not 1989. As governor I want to create jobs and economic opportunity for men and women alike. Although the ideal situation for young children is a two-parent family where the mother works as the homemaker and the father works as the breadwinner, life is not always ideal, and families are often faced with a situation where both parents are forced work outside the home. And that’s why women held management positions in my attorney general’s office, women are key parts of my campaign, and women will play a crucial role in the future of Virginia when I’m governor.”

Then if Deeds and his media enablers want to dwell on homosexual marriage, abortion and other social issues, McDonnell simply refuses to answer hypothetical questions – and adds that hysterical hyperventilating about his “secret plan” is silly. He has a record in the legislature and the attorney general’s office that shows exactly how he will perform as governor.

If McDonnell runs his race on the agenda set by the Post he will lose. If he lets the Post decide which issue positions are allowed, he will lose. It’s not too late to do it right – and to remember:

You don’t have to have all the votes to win an election. You just need enough to win.

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Michael R. Shannon is a Virginia-based public relations and media consultant with MANDATE: Message, Media & Public Relations who has worked in over 75 elections on three continents and a handful of islands.