Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds deployed three television spots Monday, two of them targeting his Republican opponent’s 20-year-old master’s thesis.
The ad blitz in media markets across Virginia, including the expensive Washington area, signals that Deeds, in the final weeks of the campaign, has no intent to waver from a strategy based primarily on social issues. The state senator has closed on Bob McDonnell in recent polls after an all-out assault on McDonnell’s 1989 master’s thesis, in which the Republican criticized feminists, working women, gays and co-habitators.
Deeds is gambling the tactic will continue to produce dividends for his campaign. One of the ads features a sequence of women, each with scornful expressions. Says one: “Bob McDonnell, we know what you wrote about working women.” Another later follows: “And you opposed birth control for married adults.”
The other thesis-related ad is far more Spartan. Set to a black background, an announcer says McDonnell was “34, married and attending Pat Robertson’s law school” when he penned the document.
McDonnell wrote the thesis in 1989 while attending the evangelical Regent University. His campaign spokeswoman, Crystal Cameron, called the ads “negative and false” and said Deeds was “desperate to rally his own base.”
The ads charge McDonnell with introducing “35 bills to restrict a woman’s right to choose” during his time in the House of Delegates. McDonnell, Cameron said, was the chief patron of eight bills dealing with abortion, out of a total of 386 bills.
“Creigh is focused on spending 100 percent of his time on 2 percent of the bills McDonnell was the patron of,” she said.
In the third ad, Deeds talks about his love of Virginia and describes himself as someone who can “bring people together.”
Recent polls show McDonnell’s once-commanding lead of the race narrowing to a slim advantage. A Washington Post poll released over the weekend showed the Republican with a four-point lead over Deeds among committed voters.
Deeds’ advisers on Monday claimed the momentum in a conference call with reporters. The race is “tightening in the areas we need it to tighten,” said Deeds campaign manager Joe Abbey.
