Just not the anti-gay ones. Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell knows his nuts are caught in one tight publicity vise with the emergence of Cro-magnon views in his graduate thesis while he attended Regent University. His campaign is in full-out damage control mode as he held an 80-minute conference call with reporters to respond to the matter, saying some of his views have changed.

McDonnell, the Republican nominee, said that since he wrote that academic paper as a 34-year-old Regent University graduate student, he has changed his views on divorce law, working wives and restricting access to contraception.

“Any indication that I gave in that paper that I didn’t think women should work I absolutely and fully repudiate,” McDonnell said. “That is not my position. Any statements that gave that impression are absolutely wrong.”

The thesis also said that the Supreme Court in 1972 “illogically” invalidated a law prohibiting the distribution of contraceptives to unmarried persons; as governor, McDonnell said, he would not seek to change state laws regarding the sale of contraceptives.

Claiming his views at the time had been shaped by his Catholic faith, Army service and Reagan-era Republicanism, McDonnell nonetheless said his perspective has changed on such issues as women in the workplace, homosexuality and divorce – all of which he depicted in his thesis as threats.

Oh really, now? Well yes, now he believes that women should be able to work, but he’s not moved at all on the Homosexual Agenda.

As for gays, McDonnell said that in hiring decisions as attorney general, he was interested only in candidates’ qualifications and not their sexual orientation. McDonnell, however, made no mention of an opinion he wrote early in his term in which he said Gov. Timothy M. Kaine acted illegally in vowing to protect gay state employees from discrimination in the workplace.

Bzzzt. FAIL. That’s not supporting anti-discrimination laws, that’s just a matter of saying HE won’t consider sexual orientation as a bar to employment.  Oh, and he made no attempt to clarify his position on marriage equality; he sponsored  the heinous Virginia marriage amendment and touts that on his web site.  McDonnell is going the safe wingnut route — rolling back on his most extreme opinions about women and reproductive rights to try to save his outreach to moderates. Obviously he has no problem tossing the LGBT vote overboard since he doesn’t think his positions will offend anyone. Nice try, Bob.

I hope Black Entertainment Television co-founder Sheila Johnson likes bankrolling and bedding down with this disingenuous pr*ck’s campaign.

Related:

* VA gov race: extremist Bob McDonnell – Pat Robertson’s pick also supported by BET founder

* BET co-founder, billionaire Sheila Johnson supports homophobe running for governor of VA