A 93-page master’s thesis written by GOP nominee Robert F. McDonnell is shaking up the race for governor of Virginia.  The document, first reported on by the Washington Post last Sunday, includes what many consider extreme socially conservative positions on women, gays and contraception, among other issues.

In one passage, McDonnell insists the law should favor married heterosexual couples over “cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators.”  McDonnell wrote the thesis in 1989, when he was 34 years old, while a law student at the ultra-conservative Regent University in Virginia Beach.

McDonnell scrambled to mitigate the damage in a race that could come down to persuading moderate, independent voters, according the Post:

In his call with reporters Monday, a calm and prepared McDonnell explained in detail how he feels about issues that include gay rights, abortion and women’s rights. He mentioned several times that on some issues he agrees with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), the state’s first Catholic governor, as well as with President Obama.

McDonnell said he still believes marriage should be limited to one man and one woman but thinks that discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation or marital status has no place in government or on the job. He said that he no longer agrees with what he wrote about women in the workforce and that regardless of his personal views, he “would follow the law,” as he did as attorney general.