copyright 2009, The Washington Post WASHINGTON -- With his victory, Robert McDonnell is being extolled as a new model for Republican success: a traditionally conservative candidate who won a swing state by focusing almost exclusively on jobs, transportation and other kitchen table issues. The test now is whether he can build a similar model for governing by catering to the middle's pragmatism without alienating the GOP activists who were crucial to his win. If McDonnell is able to please both sides, he will help rebrand Republicans as a can-do party that understands how people live, much as U.S. Sen. Mark Warner did for Democrats when he was governor earlier this decade. But if he fails, the rift between the party's center and right probably will grow wider, making it more difficult for other Republicans to win. 'Oh, it's fragile,' said Republican Tom Davis, a former congressman from Fairfax County who advised McDonnell on how to appeal to moderate Northern Virginia voters. 'When we stay united and broad-based, we win. When we become narrow and divisive, we lose. Politics is a game of addition. It's not a game of subtraction.' McDonnell banked on that fact from the earliest days of his campaign, when he began targeting Northern Virginia moderates. He talked about jobs and the economy, about untangling traffic and improving schools. He met repeatedly with minority groups, and he avoided the more divisive issues that have occupied his party's right wing. But McDonnell began the campaign with a record of conservatism acquired during 17 years in the state legislature and as attorney general. A graduate of the conservative Regent University in Virginia Beach and a friend of religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, McDonnell has made abortion restrictions, the prohibition of gay marriage and a tough stance on illegal immigrants top priorities at various times in his career. As a result, he enjoys a strong base of support among grass-roots conservatives, allowing him to win the Republican nomination without challenge last spring and focus on courting the middle during the general election campaign. Reconciling those two aspects of McDonnell's candidacy will be a central tension of his term as governor. Conservative activists are already pressuring McDonnell. The group Virginians for Life sent out an e-mail urging supporters to push McDonnell to defund the abortion provider Planned Parenthood. Last week, at the Richmond Convention Center, Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia, told 1,300 supporters that McDonnell must reverse Democratic Gov. Timothy Kaine's decision last year to ban state police chaplains from using Christian prayer at department-sanctioned events. In an interview, Cobb said that although McDonnell campaigned as a moderate, her members came out in force for him with an understanding of his record and a belief that he will remain true to conservative priorities. 'The concern is, is he going to deliver on issues that have always been important to him based on his record?' Cobb said. 'I think you need to look at him in terms of what he has said to the faith community, what he has said to churches, answers he has given on voter guides. It doesn't have to be his primary focus for people to believe he will support our priorities. He has always been seen as a champion of the family cause.' In the final days of the campaign, as his lead widened in polls, McDonnell more often declared his conservative intentions. He spoke daily of limited government, low taxes and free enterprise. He said he would 'stand up strong' against same-sex marriage and to 'protect the unborn.' He told conservative talk-radio host Laura Ingraham that it has been his position 'all along' to use the veto to block state funding of Planned Parenthood. McDonnell might be able to avoid some difficult choices, at least initially, because he will be busy managing a deep state budget crisis while trying to fulfill a campaign promise to identify new money for road improvements. He has also promised not to raise taxes, a challenge that will give him a reason to avoid dealing with social issues such as abortion that could turn off moderate supporters. 'He's got one big excuse, the economy, and he'll use it frequently,' said Larry Sabato, a political analyst at the University of Virginia. 'He'll say: `Gee, I'd like to do this. I want to do this, but we're not going to have the money.' Sabato also predicted that McDonnell 'will avoid social issues like the plague' because of his controversial graduate school thesis, in which he criticized working women, single mothers and homosexuals. After the thesis was widely publicized, he spent several weeks during the campaign defending himself against accusations that he is a right-winger. The political situation might erupt, however, if Virginia's economic and budgetary health recover enough for McDonnell and the legislature to have real choices. Although McDonnell has declared that he won't raise taxes, he has also presented his position in a less absolute way, saying that a recession is 'the wrong time to raise taxes.' Moderates and independents who voted for him might believe that he will be more open to the idea when prosperity returns, and they could grow impatient if core services such as public schools seem to be suffering. And business leaders who supported McDonnell with their votes and campaign contributions have shown in past elections that they don't want a governor focused on social issues and low taxes at the expense of economic development. On the other hand, McDonnell's anti-tax supporters, led by the Tea Party organizers who staged attention-grabbing protests over the summer, have stated plainly that they would revolt if McDonnell headed in the wrong direction. 'We expect each conservative to do his or her part to hold elected officials accountable to the promises they've made, and that certainly includes Bob McDonnell with the tax issue,' said Ben Marchi, Virginia director for Americans for Prosperity. Virginia House Speaker William Howell, R-Stafford, said the path for McDonnell and Republicans is to focus on Virginia's economic and budgetary health. It was the central promise of the campaign, it is in keeping with core Republican principles, and it was met approvingly by moderates and conservatives who supported McDonnell. Howell said: 'If we act in concert with our guiding philosophy, which is limited government and nurturing the free market and accountability for individuals, if we do those kinds of things, I think that a majority of Virginians, both our base and the independents, will be pleased with the way we're acting.' 