Public Affairs strategy #218: Send politicized signal to your base and apologize later

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell apologized Wednesday for leaving out any reference to slavery in his recent proclamation designating April as Confederate History Month, calling it a "major omission."
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"He has a right to apologize," Virginia State Sen. Henry Marsh III, a black Democrat, told CNN. "But I don't accept that as a good answer because this is a pattern of this governor."

"He says the wrong thing, he sends a signal to his base and then he makes an apology," Marsh said, "It's a question of whether he's sincere or not."

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