Planned Parenthood’s Virginia PAC has joined ranks with the Deeds campaign’s latest offensive against Bob McDonnell’s anti-abortion stance.

The organization today launched a new website, http://www.BackwardsBobMcDonnell.com to “educate voters about McDonnell’s real record on women’s health.“

Deeds earlier this week waded into the battle on the social issue in Annandale with a “Women for Deeds” event designed to call out the Republican candidate on his legislative record as a member of the House of Delegates, during which they say McDonnell supported 35 pills that limited a woman’s access to birth control and right to choose.

A release by the PP PAC called McDonnell “out of the mainstream on commonsense, preventive measures like birth control, emergency contraception and comprehensive sex education.“

Trailing in recent polls by 8 to 15, the pro-choice Deeds this week shifted his focus from the economy to social issues, a strategy that some have labeled risky but nevertheless paid dividends in Northern Virginia back in 2005 during an ad blitz in the final two weeks of the attorney general race. Deeds beat McDonnell handily in vote-rich Fairfax County, but lost the AG race by 360 votes—the slimmest statewide margin in modern Virginia history.

McDonnell, meanwhile continued his “New Jobs, More Opportunities” RV tour and today picked up the backing of the Farm Bureau, according to campaign officials. Tomorrow the RV stops at Luray Caverns in the Valley—but apparently not to let Bob go underground on the abortion issue. He’ll talk up tourism in the Commonwealth.

Tyler Whitley reports that Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell wants to get tougher on criminals.

Unveiling his public safety proposals today, McDonnell said he wants to increase the penalties for repeat drug dealers, including second-time offenders. He would increase penalties for people who prey on the elderly and toughen identity-theft laws.

The former Attorney General also proposed expanding Virginia’s drug court system to help people who are addicted to drugs. The help would include seeking more state funds for the program.

McDonnell said that under current law a sex offender who does not register with the state can be charged with a misdemeanor. He would make failure to register a felony.

Juvenile offenders who commit violent crimes would be treated as adult offenders and sent to prisons rather than to juvenile facilities under the McDonnell proposals.

He outlined his plan to the annual conference of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police in Newport News.

—Tyler Whitley

Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds is a driven politician—but perhaps not often enough.

During an online chat today at the Times-Dispatch, Deeds discussed a couple of recent driving infractions that occurred on holiday weekends when he gave his driver time off “to go home to his mother.“

Over Mother’s Day weekend Deeds was involved in a minor fender-bender. “My brakes didn’t work as they should have worked,“ Deeds told reporter Jim Nolan.

Deeds received a speeding ticket over the July 4 weekend for driving 11 miles per hour over the speed limit.

“In the second instance, I was going a little too fast,“ Deeds said. “I was anxious to get home. I made a mistake and it’s done.“

Then there was the time back in Bath County when the lawmaker’s car struck a bear.

“I will tell you that when you live in the country animals don’t really look both ways before they cross,“ Deeds said.

Creigh Deeds said it up front:  “I’m not the main event.“

It’s hard to be The Man, even if it is your fundraiser, when the President shows up. But the Man from Bath set the tone for the event at the the McLean Hilton—with tunes from his own iPod play list.

While Obama exited the stage to a march from John Philip Sousa, the Deeds vibe filled the ballroom of the hotel before and after the event: Little Feat, Flying Burrito Brothers, Graham Parsons, Springsteen and even the Stones’ “Tumbling Dice”—or was that Tumbling Polls?

“We like to think the campaign is ‘Born to Run,‘“ corrected spokesman Jared Leopold.

Leopold said the play list is the same that accompanied the Democratic candidate on his recent RV-powered “Deeds Country” swing through Southside and Southwest Virginia. As for the Sousa?

“John Philip Sousa is not on the Deeds Country play list,“ he said.

Deeds wraps up his “Deeds Country” tour this weekend with a stop at the Fiddler’s Convention in Galax on Saturday before heading home to Bath (and perhaps to take a bath after being in the RV for a week) on Sunday.

Next Wednesday, he’ll be at the Times-Dispatch participating in a live, on-line chat on http://www.timesdispatch.com.

As Creigh Deeds preps for his stage time with President Barack Obama this evening, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate’s campaign released two new radio ads this afternoon targeting Hispanics and African Americans.

The bilingual Gov. Timothy M. Kaine recorded a spot in Spanish, saying Deeds is the only candidate “who supports giving small businesses a tax credit for every new job they create…and his jobs plan includes new incentives to help minority owned businesses grow and expand.“

Another minute-long ad starts by saying “In the last election we learned that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when working together,“ and appeals to people to join the campaign to improve education and “change African American unemployment, which is nearly twice that of the general public.“

The ad pushes people to sign up for Deeds’ text message updates. And both ads were released today with a Web site revamp that promotes greater grassroots organizing through social media, among other ways.

The campaign sent an e-mail to supporters this afternoon, saying “This evening, President Barack Obama will join Creigh Deeds and Governor Tim Kaine as we work to kick this campaign into overdrive—and in conjunction with his visit, we’re launching a full scale organizing campaign, using the latest advances in new media technology.“

You can listen to both ads here: http://www.deedsforvirginia.com/blog/main/2009/8/6/our-new-radio-ads