Re-post: Bob McDonnell speaks out of both sides of his mouth

I originally posted this on March 14 when Bob McDonnell had just breezed down Rt. 11 reassuring right wingers that he was an ultraconservative although he appeared to be running as a Mark Warner moderate. It bears repeating. Perhaps it helps explain all the litter spewing forth from his campaign. My post was based on notes taken by a friend who "snuck" into the room at the Augusta Co. Government Center.

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GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell has been cruising the state conducting grassroots meetings with Republican activists. Although billed as open meetings, they are not widely advertised except by their internal messages, word of mouth, and occasionally on blogs.

You may recall an earlier CCC post about McDonnell telling the Washington Post that he is a moderate. That article was reprinted in newspapers around the state. Well, the wingnuts of the GOP apparently don't like the sound of "moderate" one bit!

According to some who have been to the meetings, folks are showing up with the article in hand, wanting to know what he meant by claiming to be a moderate, and demanding that he explain himself. McDonnell, after assuring himself the door is closed, usually says something about the press not be present so he can tell those present the truth. He then launches into a tirade defending his commitment to ultraconservative principles on the hardcore social and economic issues that are red meat for the right wing who have shown up.

I'm not sure who should be more pissed off about Bob McDonnell's duplicity: the media for being lied to, the GOP conservatives for being stabbed in the back for political expedience, the readers of newspapers because reporters don't ask the tough questions, or the voters who are being sold a bill of goods by a slick talking two-faced liar.