McDonnell opposes Va. participation in health-care bill's public option

The morning after the House of Representatives narrowly passed a health-care bill, Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell said the "public option does not seem to be something that's going to help us in Virginia."

The national debate over health care was one of the topics McDonnell addressed during appearances on two Sunday morning shows -- CNN's "State of the Union with John King" and "Fox News Sunday" with host Chris Wallace.

The health-care debate now shifts to the Senate, where a version of the legislation could allow states to opt in or opt out of the public option. McDonnell said on CNN, "Either way, my preference would be not to have Virginia participate, from what I know this plan contains."

He added that more flexibility at the state level would be good and said he has outlined a number of things that could be done at the state level to help people have more access at a lower cost.

"I'm very concerned about turning this significant section of the American economy over the federal government," he said.

McDonnell, who won Tuesday with more than 58 percent of the vote and led a Republican statewide ticket sweep, was asked on both programs about what his win means for Republicans heading into the midterm congressional elections.

"I think one of the reasons we were very fortunate to win is we stuck to our conservative principles. We translated those into common-sense practical solutions," McDonnell said on CNN, also advising that people be "positive" and "stick to your word."

"I think if we do that, Republicans have bright days ahead."

In response to a question from Wallace about staying away from social issues while campaigning, McDonnell said, "I'm going to put the priorities that I outlined during the course of the campaign as the first order of business."

"But I was completely clear during the campaign that I am pro-life, I am pro-family and I am going to support those issues in the General Assembly. But I am going to focus on getting results on those campaign promises. I think that's the way you keep trust with the people."

He said he thinks "state policy ought to be the same as the Hyde Amendment," which bars the use of federal funding for abortion, and that he supports expanding the death penalty.

King asked McDonnell if he wanted to advance any new initiatives on abortion or governing same-sex marriage. McDonnell pointed to areas such as improving adoption laws, where "people on both sides of that issue think we need to find ways to reduce the number of abortions."

Wallace said some political junkies have already mentioned McDonnell's name for the short list of vice-presidential candidates for 2012 and asked if he harbors any national ambitions.

"I really don't," McDonnell replied, later pledging that he would serve his full four-year term. "I love Virginia. I've served in the state government now for 18 years. I've got a very ambitious set of policy initiatives, Chris, that I'd like to get accomplished."

"It's very flattering to hear people talk in those terms," he said, "but I'm going to focus 100 percent of my time on Virginia."

Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com .

Political editor Andrew Cain contributed to this report.