Until this week, Robert McDonnell was indisputably one of the rising stars of the GOP. But the Virginia governor's decision to reinstate Confederate History Month without acknowledging slavery — an omission he later rectified — is being seen as a potentially career-threatening misstep. Some say the "second-tier stardom" McDonnell achieved before this gaffe made him a possible presidential or vice presidential candidate in 2012. Has he wrecked those prospects? (Watch Bob McDonnell's apology)
He's thrown away his advantage: McDonnell was once considered a "post-ideological 'future face of the Republican Party,'" says John Dickerson in Slate. But he just might have thrown his reputation as a moderate Republican away by "trying to appeal to conservatives," most of whom "already like him pretty well." This is just the "latest proof" of a party "trying too hard to appease its base."
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