ARLINGTON, Va. - Both candidates in the battle to become the next governor of Virginia focused their campaign efforts on Northern Virginia Tuesday.

Bob McDonnell was joined by his daughter during a rally in Arlington. 

"My dad is my hero," Jeanine McDonnell said. "And I would do absolutely anything to help him. And I completely believe in everything he stands for."

Jeanine McDonnell is a former U.S. Army lieutenant. She commanded a platoon in Iraq (web | news) and is a current working woman.

"The reason I went in the Army is because of my father, and him always pushing me and letting me know there are no reasons for me to just sit back and let me think there is any reason I can't do what I want to do," she said.

It may be no coincidence she's campaigning now. Recent polls suggest her father is losing ground among women, perhaps in part because of his 20-year-old graduate thesis, which argued that working women were detrimental to families and government. McDonnell has distanced himself from the academic paper.

"My daughter was the ultimate working woman as a platoon leader in Iraq," Bob McDonnell said.

And it appears she'll spend the next four weeks as the ultimate campaigner in Virginia.

Earlier, McDonnell and his Democratic rival, Creigh Deeds, appeared separately before Loudoun County (web | news) business leaders, to answer questions about local issues, including transportation.

Deeds also campaigned at James Madison University in Harrisonburg Tuesday.

The latest polls show McDonnell leading Deeds by 11 percent.

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