Among Republican insiders , Bob McDonnell , governor of Virginia , is n't considered a leading presidential contender . Marco Rubio , Chris Christie , Bobby Jindal , Jeb Bush , Paul Ryan and Rand Paul have all garnered more attention . The more interesting question has been -- until this week , at least -- why that is the case . McDonnell has the virtue of not only having won a gubernatorial race in one of America 's most important swing states but of having remained relatively popular . A new Quinnipiac University survey found that McDonnell had an approval rating of 53 % and a disapproval rating of 28 % . And though Virginia bars its governors from seeking a consecutive second term , there is a better than even chance that McDonnell would defeat Terry McAuliffe , the presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee , if he were allowed to run in 2013 . The same ca n't be said of tea party stalwart Ken Cuccinelli , the Republican attorney general who is running to succeed McDonnell . Moreover , McDonnell 's 2009 campaign was in many respects an excellent template for a national GOP campaign , as it focused on job creation and energy development while largely avoiding ideological bromides . Part of the reason McDonnell was able to run as jobs-centric pragmatist is that his socially conservative convictions were not in serious dispute . Indeed , Democrats in 2009 sought to highlight McDonnell 's anti-abortion views , but to no avail . Just one year after Barack Obama had rallied moderate voters in Virginia 's affluent northern counties , McDonnell managed to win many of them back . He aggressively courted Asian-American and Latino voters , an effort that helped blunt the growing Democratic advantage in these constituencies . One would think Republicans would be beating down McDonnell 's door . But recently , many conservative activists have soured on McDonnell . For much of 2012 , the Virginia governor has struggled to make progress on his policy agenda . Progress in some areas , like K-12 education , has been overshadowed by inaction in others , like the privatization of Virginia 's state-owned liquor stores or the all-important issue of alleviating traffic congestion . Last week , however , McDonnell finally brokered a deal with the Virginia General Assembly to finance a sharp increase in new transportation spending with new taxes . This is despite the fact that McDonnell had pledged to resist any and all tax increases in his 2009 campaign . McDonnell has touted the potential benefits of the deal , emphasizing the economic costs of traffic congestion and the enormous gains that would flow from reducing it . But the tax increases have met with strong opposition from Cuccinelli , whom McDonnell has endorsed , and Grover Norquist , head of Americans for Tax Reform and guardian of its Taxpayer Protection Pledge . This reaction is hardly surprising . Virginia 's new transportation plan scraps the commonwealth 's $ 0.175-per-gallon tax on gasoline , the value of which has eroded with inflation since it was first set at that rate in 1987 , and replaces it with a 3.5 % whole tax on motor fuel that will grow with the economy and the price level . It also raises Virginia 's retail sales tax on most items from 5 % to 5.3 % , with a further increase to 6 % in the most traffic-congested regions to pay for local transportation projects . All told , these new revenue measures will raise as much as $ 880 million per year , with an additional $ 200 million to be shifted to transportation from other spending priorities . Not everyone is furious about McDonnell 's measure that would increase taxes . Some prominent voices , including Washington Post conservative commentator Jennifer Rubin and Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney , have praised the governor for addressing Virginia 's transportation woes . One wonders whether McDonnell might somehow be able to turn a liability -- having reneged on his tax pledge -- into a strength by presenting himself as a pragmatic , bipartisan problem-solver . It 's a long shot , given that primaries tend to be dominated by highly ideological voters . But it might be worth a shot all the same , particularly if the Republican presidential field proves thinner than expected in 2016 .
Bob McDonnell : Gov . Salam is n't a leading GOP presidential contender . Salam : GOP 's 2016 campaign is a great template for a national GOP campaign . He says the governor , popular and pragmatic , pushed for an important transportation bill . Reihan Salam : It may be a long shot , but McDonnell should be included in GOP presidential field .