The Washington Post news pages’ attempts to “macaca” Republican governor nominee Bob McDonnell continue today, but is relegated to page B-4.  The headline and the lead paragraph, as we have come to expect, focus on McDonnell’s 1989 Regent University thesis, and on the reaction to it of Democratic governor nominee Creigh Deeds. Surprise: Deeds, who has been trailing in polls, thinks it’s relevant because it “explains the social agenda that has apparently driven his legislative agenda during the years.”

Deeds’s specific criticisms, as relayed by the Post, seem like pretty thin gruel. “Deeds said that as a delegate, McDonnell sponsored legislation to establish covenant marriage in Virginia four times, an idea in the thesis. He has also backed bills restricting access to abortions and voted in 2001 against a resolution that urged equal pay for men and women.” Covenant marriage is also supported by incumbent Democratic Governor Tim Kaine, and in any case is entirely voluntary. Most voters in Virginia and nationally favor some restrictions on access to abortion.