McDonnell vacations this week after two policy rollouts

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell will take a break from campaigning this week to spend time with his family in Michigan.

The holiday comes less than one week after McDonnell made two policy announcements about bringing business to the state and assisting military veterans.

Thursday, McDonnell accused Gov. Timothy M. Kaine of failing to use financial tools at his disposal to attract business to Virginia, saying he would use those incentives more effectively if elected governor.

"The current governor, unfortunately, over the last couple of years has not fully used all the monies available in the Governor's Opportunity Fund, which is extremely puzzling," McDonnell said of Kaine.

The Governor's Opportunity Fund is a pool of money controlled by the governor. It can be used to provide grants to help consummate business deals.

Democrats quickly fired back, noting that McDonnell voted against efforts to grow the fund during his time as a member of the House of Delegates representing Virginia Beach.

Kaine struck a similar chord when asked about McDonnell's comments.

"Republicans have voted against GOF monies," Kaine said last week, the same day that his office announced Virginia has received another accolade for its business-friendly climate. "We've asked for more and they voted for less. I certainly didn't hear Bill Bolling or Bob McDonnell asking for more GOF monies and trying to convince the House of Delegates to put more into the budget."

Bolling spokesman Randy Marcus rejected Kaine's characterization of the lieutenant governor's stand on the opportunity fund, insisting that his boss has supported increasing that pot of money over the years.

McDonnell, a former attorney general, also said he would reinvent the role of lieutenant governor as a chief business recruiter in his administration during a conference call with Bolling, his running mate.

Comments made by McDonnell and Bolling drew swift responses from Democratic candidates Creigh Deeds (governor) and Jody Wagner (lieutenant governor).

In a statement, Deeds said his role as governor would be to create jobs, not "pass the buck on Virginia's economy" or "appoint somebody else to be in charge of job creation."

Wagner said Bolling "spent his time attempting to impede the Commonwealth's progress" over the last decade.

Meanwhile, McDonnell and Deeds both spoke about veterans issues Saturday. Deeds campaign announced the formation of a veterans steering committee and a veterans policy.

-- Julian Walker

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