McDonnell sticks to message

Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell hammered home his message of jobs and the economy during a Friday get-out-the-vote rally before 200 people at Willow Oak Plaza in Waynesboro.

“It’s about small business and job creation. It’s about keeping taxes and litigation low and strong right-to-work laws and strong universities so we can have the foundation for entrepreneurship,’’ McDonnell said.

Money derived from making Virginia the East Coast energy capital can be used to build roads and improve education, he said.

Friday’s stop was one of more than 20 over the campaign’s final days in Virginia heading into Tuesday’s election. But Friday’s stop was not the last in the Shenandoah Valley.

McDonnell and his team of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and attorney general nominee Ken Cuccinelli will fly into the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport Sunday afternoon.

Buoyed by polls showing him with a double-digit lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, McDonnell told the crowd, “it doesn’t matter what the polls say, it matters who comes out for 13 hours on Nov. 3.”

The crowd was also pumped by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

“This is your moment,’’ Steele said. “We are turning it over to you now to bring it home to get them elected, to win the race.”

“This leadership team you have is the best this state has seen in a long, long time,’’ Steele said.

Steele said Tuesday could be the day Republicans end a string of statewide losses that include the last two Virginia U.S. Senate races and the last two gubernatorial races.

“The country is watching. The country is listening and the country is learning,’’ Steele said.

During an earlier stop at Reo Distribution, Steele said he had urged McDonnell to continue running the race in the final days like he is 10 points behind.

“Bob is doing very well,’’ Steele said. “But don’t assume anything just because the numbers say you are doing well.”

Bolling said the crowds the ticket has drawn on the first couple of days of the final tour are two and three times the size he saw during similar stops in 2005.

Friday morning, Bolling said he saw a crowd of 150 in Lynchburg.

Bolling said if elected, the Republican ticket “will bring unemployment down, balance the budget and rein in spending.”

Cuccinelli also cautioned against being passive.

“This is one-on-one time,’’ he said. “It’s time for knocking on doors and getting folks you have talked to show up.”