Bob Mcdonnell

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Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell is trying to rebound after a week of setbacks reflecting on his leadership. "It's a brutal situation for him. It's brutal," says Paul Goldman, who served as an adviser to Govs. L. Douglas Wilder and Mark R. Warner. "The governorship is a position of leadership." (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell removed a representative to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, contending he had a conflict of interest. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is at odds with advocacy groups for vetoing a bill to allow a neglected or abused child to go to school where a caregiving relative lives. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's executive order directs that new voter-registration cards be sent to every active voter in the state. (Associated Press)

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Gov. Bob McDonnell speaks with workers at Fredericksburg Machine and Steel, a family owned and run shop in Fredericksburg on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 as part of his tour of Virginia to tout it as a business friendly state. (AP Photo/The Free Lance-Star, Reza A. Marvashti)

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Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, from right, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell arrive at a campaign stop in Portsmouth, Va., Thursday, May 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed some minor changes to a massive overhaul of the state's depleted pension fund. (Associated Press)

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Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell vetoed seven bills and offered more than 100 amendments to legislation passed by the General Assembly this year. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

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Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell gestures as he talks with members of the Virginia General Assembly after the session adjourned at the Capitol in Richmond on Saturday, March 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

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Gov. Bob McDonnell, Virginia Republican, and Gov. Peter Shumlin, Vermont Democrat, (right) speak with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack during a panel discussion at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington on Sunday. (Associated Press)