[imgbelt img=mcdonnel.jpeg]The Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell (above, right), “rolled out his economic vision for rural areas,” according to the Martinsville Bulletin. McDonnell promised to have a “deputy secretary of commerce and trade focus solely on economic development in rural areas….” McDonnell also promised “monthly” visits to an economically depressed rural area. The “visits” would be by either McDonnell or by Bill Bolling, the candidate for lieutenant governor. “You can count on me or Bill Bolling to be here every 30 days,” McDonnell said in Martinsville. McDonnell’s plan calls for tax credits for businesses that create new jobs. He would promote farm preservation and, in a promise being made in many other states, he said he would make southwest and southern Virginia  “the nation’s hub for traditional and alternative energy research and development.” McDonnell’s rural plan runs six pages.McDonnell is running against R. Creigh Deeds, a Democratic legislator from rural Virginia.