I would recommend the Audio Technica AT822 stereo mic. Comes with everything you need and sounds great. Will work with a minidisc recorder as well.
John

The 822 is a great inexpensive/lower priced stereo, as is it's bigger brother, the 825.
The question is more "what is it going to be used for?"
The Rode VideoMic is a good very low end mono mic, certainly better than the similar priced Azdens. But it's a shotgun, and shotguns are not to be often used indoors as they'll pick up more room than subject in most rooms.
What's the budget?
One nice thing about the 822 is that it doesn't need to sit on/is better used off the camera, allowing you to get it closer to the source. That alone will make a huge difference. A $10.00 mic close to the subject is better than a $600.00 mic 8 feet away. Always.

Would be used mostly for journalism type things. Most of the time I need it sitting right on the cam but there may be situations where I could put it on a boom or something. So a mic that would work for both of those types of uses would be good. In regards to a budget, would like to keep it under or about $300.

I'd get the Rode then. Unless you can spring just a tiny bit more, then get the Audio Technica 897

Will a Sony Digital 8 Camcorder totally distort using one of these mics in a live band situation. It distorts so easily, even with quiet bands using the built in mic. Or does it need to be attenuated further? Just curious, if anybody knows.

I guess there are two questions in there. First, can a mic handle the sound level, and secondly, how to prevent clipping in the camera circuitry. I use two microphone types, a cheaper Sony ECM-MS908C and the more-expensive AT822. I've never seen any kind of clipping effect in loud environments, and the two Sony miniDV cameras I've used to record have a very nice AGC on the audio. But I've never done any recording at blowout levels.

Good thing with most Rode models, they'll take around 6dB more SPL than the competition. We've had a lot of trouble with Sony cameras in high SPL situations, could just be our cameras but the seem to go into audio lockup for a second or two, mostly seems to affect the PD150/250s. With a D8 camera I'd sure be looking for an attenuator if using external condensor mics, at high SPL those things can put out a lot of sparks which I'd bet the D8s audio circuits were never designed to handle. Anyone handy with a soldering iron should be able to make something for you.
Bob.

I'm really not even sure why I asked. My gut feeling was there is no way the D8 can handle it. It would probably distort if you fed in a line level. I'm really sort of surprised that the camera doesn't have an attenuating switch built in, since it has the mic input jack. The Dig 8s built in mics are so sensitive to loud levels and Bass frequencies, it's not funny. Totally unusable sound in a room with a medium-loud band.