Bob McDonnell’s “Please forget about my highly unethical behavior” tour is a joke

Governor Bob McDonnell probably made Pinocchio blush after he claimed that his “This Commonwealth of Opportunity” tour was not about repairing his image. Instead, McDonnell claimed "I do this every year. It's good to get out of Richmond to tell people around the state what we are doing in Richmond, things they might not know, things that can help them locally." Not everyone agrees, however, with McDonnell’s half-baked defense, including myself.

Mark Rozell, a political analyst at George Mason University, concluded, "It's more of a redemption or rehabilitation tour I think, trying to reset his public persona in a sense to get people not to focus on the investigation and all of the scandal surrounding him but actually to think differently about him and his governorship.”

For anyone who has an idea about the calculated moves that define the world of politics, it’s apparent that McDonnell’s “Look at all of the great things I’ve done for Virginia” tour is little else besides a mirror to reflect the mountain of negative publicity McDonnell has received over the past few months.

This tour, and his response to critics, has only served to reinforce what many reasonable Virginians have long since concluded: McDonnell is as concerned about the people of Virginia as MC Hammer is worried about his bank account. That is, McDonnell’s time in public office has not been so much about serving the people of Virginia, it’s been about serving McDonnell’s expensive tastes for goods and political power.

The greatest tragedy in this ongoing drama is that Virginians have to watch as a lame-duck governor flounders into the abyss of political history without the slightest degree of sincere remorse for the unethical actions he participated in.

One positive from McDonnell’s continuing presence in Virginia’s Executive Mansion is that every day he 

remains in public office is another day Virginians are reminded of the gift triangle that occurred between Ken Cuccinelli, McDonnell, and Star Scientifics’ CEO. Looked at in this light, McDonnell’s presence is a god-send!