McDonnell drops hints on direction of administration

Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell, in a round of post-victory television appearances, is signaling he will simultaneously chart a course heavily focused on the economy while risking partisan rancor over issues like abortion.

Since his election last Tuesday, McDonnell has said that fiscal issues will be "the first order of business" and that he will govern as he campaigned, reflecting the moderate image that put him in office with heavy support from independent voters. At the same time, he has slipped in nods to his conservative base, saying he will work to make more people eligible for the death penalty and strip Planned Parenthood of state funding.

"Across the board, people don't want taxpayer funding to go for those kinds of services," McDonnell said on Fox News. "And so I think that ought to be the state policy as well."

The trickle of policy positions McDonnell has issued since Election Day was delivered on the campaign trail, but their quick postelection re-emergence hints at what McDonnell's first moves could be at the beginning of his term in January.

His transition team, however, remains mum on the specific legislation the Republican will seek for the upcoming legislative session.

"He will make good on every one of those campaign pledges during his four years in office," said Tucker Martin, spokesman for McDonnell's transition team.

A potentially easy victory could come from expanding capital punishment in Virginia to include accomplices in capital murder cases and not just the killers themselves. Bills to abolish the "triggerman" rule have passed the General Assembly, only to be vetoed by Gov. Tim Kaine. McDonnell said he will sign the change into law.

Democrats, who were dealt a broad defeat last week by losing seats in the House of Delegates and all three statewide races, have said they hope McDonnell will walk a centrist path.

"He ran an impressive campaign in which he promised to govern Virginia from the center and focus on solving problems," 11th District Rep. Gerry Connolly said at the annual meeting of the Virginia Association of Counties in Hot Springs. "I trust he'll fulfill that promise, and if he does, I will proudly work together with him to address these great challenges."

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