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Democrat Tim Kaine points at Jerry Kilgore, his Republican rival
Democrat Tim Kaine spars Republican Jerry Kilgore debates his Democratic rival. |
BY CHELYEN DAVIS
TYSONS CORNER--Taxes, transportation and abortion were the hot topics during a contentious debate between gubernatorial hopefuls Jerry Kilgore and Tim Kaine here yesterday.
Kaine, a Democrat, also discussed education issues in a later, second debate with independent candidate Russ Potts.
Sparring before a luncheon crowd of Northern Virginia businesspeople at the Tysons Corner Hilton, Kaine and Kilgore spent an hour sniping at each other's positions while lauding their own. Moderator Tim Russert, host of NBC's "Meet the Press," stepped in several times to push Republican Kilgore to answer questions during the event sponsored by the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce.
Kaine portrayed his candidacy as an opportunity to extend positive reforms of the past four years under Gov. Mark Warner, and said Kilgore is out of touch for not supporting those reforms, including a tax package passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 2004.
"Do you want this state to go forward or do you want it to go backward?" Kaine asked. "Jerry Kilgore has fought against every reform Mark Warner and I have fought for If you don't know success when it's looking you in the face, you can't be a leader."
Kilgore said he is a more responsible reformer than Kaine or Warner, and portrayed Kaine as a candidate with no plan and no record other than raising taxes.
"Just admit it, Tim, you raised taxes," Kilgore said. "He broke ties in the Senate, folks. That was his only duty [as lieutenant governor]. I know Governor Warner would be surprised to hear you took credit for 'budget reform.'"
While Kilgore has said many times that he still thinks the state's tax package of 2004--which raised millions of dollars in taxes --was a bad idea, he said yesterday that he would not move to repeal it if elected.
"I'm not going to re-fight the battles of the past," Kilgore said, adding that he'd focus on cutting taxes like the estate tax, and offering new tax credits to encourage growth.
Asked how he'd pay for that, Kilgore said he plans to create a "watchdog commission" to look for government inefficiencies; use excess revenue growth; and set budget priorities.
Asked the same question about what he would cull from the state budget to pay for his priorities, Kaine said he'd shave slivers off many areas.
On transportation--an especially hot topic before a crowd that had to travel the congested Capital Beltway to get to the debate--Kilgore promised to widen Interstate 66 inside the Beltway, build a third crossing over the Potomac River, and push for more regional control over projects.
Kaine did not mention specific transportation projects, but said he believes there is an urgency to the state's transportation problems and that something needs to be done soon. He said he will not take money out of the Transportation Trust Fund to do anything, and that there must be a balance between money for roads and money for mass-transit projects like extending rail service to Washington Dulles International Airport.
Kaine also said the state's transportation funding formulas should be adjusted to give equal weight to transit projects and road projects.
With confirmation hearings on a new U.S. Supreme Court justice going on not far away, questions about possible changes to past high-court decisions came up.
Russert asked Kilgore, who is anti-abortion, whether he would sign a law outlawing abortion, should the Supreme Court ever hand that issue back to the states. Kilgore sidestepped, saying it was a "hypothetical" question.
"If states were given more authority we would work within the parameters supporting a culture of life," Kilgore said.
Russert asked if Kilgore would sign or veto any tax increase that came across his desk; Kilgore said he'd veto it.
"That's a hypothetical," Russert said, to laughter from the crowd.
Kaine's answer to Russert's question was that he would "veto any legislation that criminalizes women or doctors for their health-care choices."
Kaine took questions about his position on the death penalty. He said he opposes it from a faith-based perspective, but that he wouldn't do anything as governor to try to end capital punishment.
"I'm not going to spend my time fighting a quixotic battle I can't win," Kaine said.
Immigration issues have arisen in the campaign recently, and the candidates were questioned about whether they approve of using public money for day-labor centers for illegal workers, as the town of Herndon has decided to do.
Kilgore opposes that, saying he doesn't support using public money on illegal immigrants in any way, preferring instead to encourage people to come here legally.
Kaine said he wants the federal government to enforce its own laws--such as cracking down on companies that employ illegal immigrants. And until it does so, he said he's not going to "grandstand over [local governments'] rights to make their own decisions."
University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato said Kaine came off better in the debate, in part because the Northern Virginia audience was partial to him.
"This is Kaine's debate. It's Kaine's audience. It's probably Kaine's region," Sabato said, calling it "one of the most one-sided debates I've ever seen."
He said Russert was "much tougher on Kilgore than on Kaine," but that the moderator did a good job of revealing the "internal contradictions" of both candidates.
After the Kilgore debate, Kaine went on to debate Potts in a separate forum sponsored by a coalition of Virginia education groups.
Although their debate was held in the same hotel, Kilgore refused to participate.
Potts, who was not allowed into the two-man Chamber of Commerce debate, criticized Kilgore several times during his debate with Kaine, calling Kilgore "Casper the Ghost" and saying it was hard to debate an empty chair.
Kaine told the education forum that minimum standards are fine, but that it's time for the state to "shift from competence to excellence." He wants comprehensive teacher evaluations to be part of that.
Potts said he had carried legislation to put more money into the state's Standards of Quality and other education needs.
"My track record on education is superceded by not a single senator," Potts said.
He took Kaine to task for repeatedly referring to the "Warner-Kaine" administration, asking why Kaine had rarely come to testify in support of education legislation before the Senate Education and Health committee that Potts chairs.
Kaine said he influenced the administration as part of Warner's Cabinet.
Both candidates said they oppose vouchers and subjective "merit pay" raises for teachers.
Kaine and Kilgore will debate once more, in a televised debate Oct. 9. Potts will be allowed in that debate if he polls at 15 percent in two reputable polls before then. A Washington Post poll recently had him at 5 percent.
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