Chris Christie became the first Republican in several years to become New Jersey's governor in the Democratic-leaning state.

He joins Virginia governor-elect Bob McConnell as the second Republican Catholic to be voted into gubernatorial office today.

The Associated Press reports that with 75 percent of the precincts reporting, Christie leads with 50 percent of the vote over his Democratic opponent Gov. Jon Corzine, who is left with 44 percent of the vote. President Obama invested in the race, campaigning with Corzine five times on three visits.

During the campaign, Corzine targeted Christie in an ad criticizing Christie's support of a constitutional ban on abortion and opposition of funding stem cell research.

Christie has explained his positions on social issues to the Star-Ledger.

In an interview, Christie today outlined his own positions on social issues, saying he evolved from pro-choice to pro-life with the birth of his children but would not use the governor's office to "force that down people's throats." However, he said he favors restrictions on abortion rights such as banning partial-birth abortions and requiring parental notification and a 24-hour waiting period.

He said he favors the state's current law allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions but would veto a bill legalizing same-sex marriage if it reached his desk. Corzine has said he would sign such a bill.

Late last week, Ben Smith of Politico reported that on two groups that were mailing out information about cultural issues in the race.

A pair of conservative advocacy groups -- the New Jersey Faith & Freedom Coalition and the New Jersey Family Policy Council -- are dropping mail in the Garden State that takes on Corzine and Daggett on cultural issues.

The pieces, which got into the hands of Democrats, were mailed to a household with an Irish last name, surely under the assumption that said household was Catholic.

Running in deep-blue Jersey, Christie has avoided cultural issues during the campaign.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 3, 2009 | Comments (3)

Republican Bob McDonnell won Virginia's governor race today, becoming the second Catholic governor of Virginia, the Associated Press reports. Outgoing Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine became the first.

The former state attorney general defeated Democratic candidate, R. Creigh Deeds, who attempted to slam McDonnell for his 1989 master’s thesis while attending Regent University. McDonnell had described working women and feminists as "detrimental" to the family. Deeds's strategy didn't work, the Washington Post writes.

The strategy appeared to work for a time, as polls tightened. But McDonnell fought back with a series of TV spots featuring supportive testimonials from his daughter, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, and a gallery of professional women who had worked for him in the attorney general's office. Increasingly, voters said they saw Deeds's campaign as a largely negative one that failed to define his own vision for the state.

The Post also reports that McConnell was careful not to alienate independents or Democrats, praising President Obama for promoting charter schools and fatherhood.

Although known for a social conservatism deeply informed by his religious faith during his 14 years as a delegate representing Virginia Beach, during the gubernatorial campaign McDonnell studiously avoided controversial such social issues as abortion, immigration and gun rights, largely neutralizing the Democrats' effort to portray him as an extremist with a stealth agenda.

The New York Times reports that McDonnell kept his distance from the further right end of his party. Ian Urbina writes, "When the conservative activist Ralph Reed sponsored robo-calls to voters featuring former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska asking them to vote their values, Mr. McDonnell’s campaign declined to answer questions about the calls and emphasized that the campaign had not asked Ms. Palin to make them."

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at November 3, 2009 | Comments (1)

Virginia Democrat Creigh Deeds continues to slam Republican Bob McDonnell for a thesis he wrote 20 years ago while attending Regent University. In the thesis, McDonnell described working women and feminists as "detrimental" to the family, said government policy should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators," and called a Supreme Court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unmarried couples "illogical."

Deeds took the thesis and ran with it, using it to paint McDonnell as a "social crusader" during last night's debate and in at least four different TV ads. One ad features six women who question McDonnell's voting record. "What did this thesis say about women?" another ads asks. "A lot ... abortion should be outlawed and birth control should be restricted--even for married adults."

McDonnell responded with two ads. One features women who worked with him while he was state Attorney General, while the other is narrated by his daughter, Jeanine, who served as a platoon leader in Iraq. McDonnell, who is Catholic, has five children.

Another ad is being aired by the Virginia Values Voter PAC, tied to the Family Research Council; this one accuses Deeds of flip-flopping on the issues of same-sex marriage and partial-birth abortion.

McDonnell also said that his views have changed since the time he wrote the thesis, especially regarding women in the workplace:

Virginians will judge me on my 18-year record as a legislator and Attorney General and the specific plans I have laid out for our future -- not on a decades-old academic paper I wrote as a student during the Reagan era and haven't thought about in years.

Despite the attack ads, McDonnell has consistently remained 5 to 10 points ahead of Deeds.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine targeted his opponent on abortion and stem cell research in a new ad released Thursday. The ad criticizes Christie's support of a constitutional ban on abortion and opposition of funding stem cell research. "A governor who doesn't share our values," the announcer says. "Chris Christie. Wrong when it matters most."

Christie has said he became pro-life after his children were born, but he will not "force that down people's throats" as governor. He favors banning partial-birth abortions, requiring parental notification and a 24-hour waiting period. He also opposes additional gun control laws.

The two candidates are running neck-and-neck.

Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at October 13, 2009 | Comments (1)

The debate over the validity of Gov. Rod Blagojevish's appointment of Roland Burris as the next senator from illinois is ultimately a legal issue and not a moral one, according to Stanley Fish in today's New York Times. Fish, a professor of law at Florida International University, says the topic has been debated thoroughly already, by St. Augustine:

This debate was about the status of churchmen who had cooperated with the emperor Diocletian during the period when he was actively persecuting Christians. The Donatists argued that those who had betrayed their faith under pressure and then returned to the fold when the persecutions were over had lost the authority to perform their priestly offices, including the offices of administering the sacraments and making ecclesiastical appointments. In their view, priestly authority was a function of personal virtue, and when a new bishop was consecrated by someone they considered tainted, they rejected him and consecrated another.

Augustine, however, argued that authority was a function of one's office, not one's character: "It is the office that speaks, appoints and consecrates. Its legitimacy does not vary with personal qualities of the imperfect human being who is the temporary custodian of a power that at once exceeds and transforms him."

Here's guessing that another saint, one named Paul, would agree. The apostle urged obedience to the governing authorities, who happened to represent the Roman Empire, not known for its commitment to fairness. Said Paul:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Posted by Stan Guthrie at January 9, 2009 | Comments (4)

All of the buzz today is on Hillary Clinton's big speech tonight (and, to a lesser extent, Bill Clinton's speech tomorrow night).

But this is also a fascinating night at the Democratic podium for a several other reasons. First, this is the night of Bob Casey Jr.'s address. It's an important symbolic moment because of the decision in 1992 to deny then-Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey Sr. a speaking spot at the convention. Casey had wanted to talk about his opposition to abortion. Some suggest that the invitation to Casey Jr. demonstrates a Democratic Party that's more open to prolifers. Others say he's not as prolife as his father was.

It's unclear whether Casey will talk about abortion, but a few hours before his speech you'll almost certainly hear the subject come up as Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards addresses the convention. A big difference: Casey is speaking in prime time. Richards is on around 4 p.m. (Casey also has a much better slot than Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Casey's opponent in the tumultuous 2002 primary race for governor. Reckon that has more to do with Casey's strong support for Obama over Rendell's major backing of Clinton than it does with either's views on abortion.)

Another speech tonight that could be more conservative or more religious than usual: that of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. The United Methodist minister did very well among evangelicals in 2006.

Mara Vanderslice and Eric Sapp won't be speaking tonight, but their presence will be felt. Their old organization, Common Good Strategies, is credited with helping Strickland, Casey, Kansas Gov.Kathleen Sebelius, and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm -- all of whom are speaking tonight -- win election in 2006 by emphasizing their religious backgrounds. All the podium is missing is Sen. Sherrod Brown (Oh.) and Rep. Heath Shuler (N.C.), but if they did that they'd probably have to make one of those video tributes to Vanderslice. (Vanderslice is now with the Matthew 25 Network. Sapp is at the Eleison Group.)

Posted by Ted Olsen at August 26, 2008 | Comments (3)