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Democratic candidate Mark Warner (left) listens as Republican Jim Gilmore answers a question during the Virginia Bar Association senatorial debate at The Homestead.
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WARNER, GILMORE TAKE JABS

Warner, Gilmore debate at The Homestead


Date published: 7/20/2008

HOT SPRINGS--The first debate between former Govs. Mark Warner and Jim Gilmore proved to be a tense exchange of accusations about trust and mischaracterized records.

Gilmore, the Republican, and Warner, the Democrat, faced off at The Homestead resort at a U.S. Senate candidates' debate sponsored by the Virginia Bar Association.

For more than an hour they traded barbs about fiscal responsibility, taxes and energy plans.

Warner characterized himself as a bipartisan problem-solver who will get things done in Washington; he painted Gilmore as adhering to a car-tax cut to the detriment of the state's budget.

"We'll probably hear more name-calling. At the end of the day, name-calling doesn't get results," Warner said, adding that Gilmore "helped drive Virginia into a fiscal ditch."

Gilmore repeatedly said he's the candidate voters can trust to keep his word, and he accused Warner of breaking a promise by raising taxes even as state revenues improved after an economic downturn.

"Who will keep his word? Who has a track record of doing what he says he's going to do?" Gilmore asked. He said Warner has "a natural instinct to raise taxes" and said he "casually brushes aside those kind of fundamental commitments to the people of Virginia."

Apart from general questions of trust, the dominant issue of the debate was drilling for oil offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, currently forbidden by a federal moratorium.

Gilmore favors drilling in both areas and wants the federal government to have the final say. Warner opposes drilling in ANWR. He says the federal moratorium on offshore drilling should be lifted but that states can decide for themselves whether to actually drill.

"The 'drill here, drill now, pay less' sound bite isn't going to solve the problem," Warner said. He called it a gimmick.

Gilmore has made domestic oil drilling a centerpiece of his energy plan; apart from drilling, he and Warner both favor a variety of other energy initiatives, including more emphasis on alternative fuels.

Drilling domestically "makes a significant difference. It must be done," Gilmore said. "Mark Warner has said he is against drilling in ANWR, and he has fuzzed up and confused his position on offshore drilling."

Warner has said that while he favors exploring for oil and gas offshore, he's concerned about the environmental impact of developing potential oil reserves.


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Date published: 7/20/2008


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TRUST DEMOCRATS TO WANT A CAR SALESMAN FOR SENATOR (posted by imready , July 20, 2008 5:17 pm)   
Volvos to boot. Warner couldn't even sell an American car. But hey, that's liberalism. The only thing Warner did in office was raise taxes and that was not needed. The taxes that came out of our wallets sat around in a surplus because a republican legislature would not let Warner piss it away on his pet wealth transfer projects. Which is the real reason Warner raised taxes. Not because he had to. Or that Gilmore left a mess. Democrats hate the truth. Democrats can't handle the truth.

Gimmick ......... (posted by Ranko , July 20, 2008 11:17 am)   
The real gimmick was cutting the car tax to get votes. Gilmore can't come up with that this time so the landslide is on for Warner.

Hmm (posted by LastManStanding , July 20, 2008 9:56 am)   
I smell a 25-30% vote total for Gilmore. He'll be lucky if it's not a landslide of epic proportions.

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