Comments on: I’m not sure if I should care about Bob McDonnell’s thesis

By: McDonnell’s thesis | The League of Ordinary Gentlemen

McDonnell’s thesis | The League of Ordinary Gentlemen — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:42:39 +0000

[...] friend pointed out that a lot of the discomfort surrounding McDonnell’s thesis comes from its arcane terminology – words like “fornicator” and [...]

By: Mira

Mira — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:51:51 +0000

I skimmed the thesis, and it seems like exactly the sort of thing someone would have written in 1989 as a master’s thesis at Regent University. Not particularly surprising. So I don’t think anyone should care about McDonnell’s thesis who doesn’t already. On the other hand, though, McDonnell and his opponent should care. I can see someone thinking that while opposition to abortion and support for covenant marriage is one thing, opposition to contraception and support for religion in schools is entirely another, and that it’s just a bit too crazy to stomach even if he has moderated his positions in the past twenty years. I doubt anyone will really change their mind about McDonnell based on the thesis, but it will probably cement the idea that he’s a crazy person in the minds of anyone for whom it’s already there.

By: Northeast Elizabeth

Northeast Elizabeth — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:04:47 +0000

McDonnell casually mentioned his master’s thesis in conversation with a couple of Washington Post reporters, who promptly dug up the 93 page document

Indeed they did! Yet from our alleged “Constitutional scholar” President, we’ve seen nothing of his academic writing but a single unsigned law review note.

How curiously incurious these alleged journalists are.

By: Jaybird

Jaybird — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:36:17 +0000

I would be more worried about the fact that he was in his mid-30’s when he wrote it.

I mean, sure. If he wrote it when he was 23, I’d see this as a cynical ploy to smear the guy (seriously, I can’t imagine stuff that I wrote when I was 23 coming to light… I was pro-gun control!).

But he was old enough to know better.

That said, “Dude, it was 1989″ is more of a defense of this paper than a lot of folks (who probably don’t remember 1989) realize.

By: Will

Will — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:52:24 +0000

Also, I think people should be encouraged to examine “extreme” views in the academy. Defending a position intellectually and adhering to those views years after the fact are two different things entirely.

By: Will

Will — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:47:36 +0000

Fair enough – I shouldn’t have used the phrase “term paper.” But I think that the distinction between political documents and academic papers stands.

By: Mr. Prosser

Mr. Prosser — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:25:10 +0000

Since I tend to think the worst of politicians (and am rarely wrong) I assume McDonnell wanted an MA after his name. UVa was probably too hard and required too much time but Regent isn’t much more than a mill and a cram course for the bar exams IMO. So, the guy cynically writes a piece that parrots the school’s party line. Even if it doesn’t reflect his real beliefs it doesn’t say much for his character.

By: Nob Akimoto

Nob Akimoto — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:05:51 +0000

As noted above, there’s a considerable difference between an undergraduate thesis and a master’s thesis, nevermind the yawning chasm between a “term paper” and a masters thesis. Unlike an undergraduate paper or thesis, a master’s thesis is a culmination of intense professional training intended for your chosen career. Where an UG thesis may be significantly modified by graduate studies, a master’s thesis is going to be the foundation of your own professional career in total.

While I appreciate what you’re trying to say, calling it a “decades old term paper” is substantively inaccurate to the point of almost being a mirror of the dishonesty on misappropriating Sunstein’s academic pieces.

By: Pat Cahalan

Pat Cahalan — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:28:05 +0000

A Master’s thesis doesn’t even remotely compare to a term paper.

Presumably, a Master’s thesis consists of a distilling of 2-3 years training in your particular field, contextualized with your 4 years of undergraduate study. Academic work doesn’t scale in a linear fashion: any reasonably competent undergraduate can whip out a 5-10 page paper in a night (pushing 20 if quality is not an issue), but a 93 page thesis usually requires a substantial amount of references, and that means lots of research and background reading.

Now, anyone can choose not to care, that’s agreed…

I personally would find it questionable that anyone had *really* retreated in a significant way from the worldview that was presented in such a way; in my experience, people with extreme social views tend to either remain consistent or dramatically and diametrically change their worldview. There are exceptions (self included), but I’d really want to pay attention to that candidate if I was a VA voter.

Of course, I’m not… and I’m not following this story, so take the above in that context ;)

By: Michael Drew

Michael Drew — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:21:01 +0000

Mine? I don’t get to vote against the guy, but if I did I would definitely reserve my right to do it for exactly that reason.