Washington Post: Tim Kaine for Virginia Governor

[bluestateguy]

VIRGINIA'S FINANCES, on life support four years ago, have staged a robust recovery thanks to smart leadership in Richmond and a stronger national and regional economy. A key question in the race for governor is which candidate would be the better steward of the state's hard-won financial health. The clear answer is Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, the Democratic candidate.

The essential difference between Mr. Kaine and his main rival, Jerry W. Kilgore, a Republican and former attorney general, is that Mr. Kaine backed a wide-ranging overhaul and increase in state taxes last year and Mr. Kilgore opposed it. That was a defining event, forcing officials to choose between knee-jerk anti-tax orthodoxy and moderate pragmatism that would safeguard Virginia's reputation for financial probity. Mr. Kaine chose wisely, supporting Gov. Mark R. Warner in what looked like a serious political gamble. Mr. Kilgore blew it, even as plenty of lawmakers from his party got it right.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/10/AR2005101001167.html

[AlCzervik]

1. I saw their last debate, Kaine took the "no more then 50% negative ad

pleadge" Kilgore did not.