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By CHELYEN DAVIS
RICHMOND--Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Jerry Kilgore swapped barbs and repeated campaign slogans for an hour last night in the last debate of the gubernatorial campaign.
Both men used their match-up to reiterate entrenched positions, but broke little new ground in the race's only debate to be televised statewide.
Kilgore promised to be a governor who would "trust the people" and further trim state government, while Kaine vowed to continue governing in the style of Gov. Mark Warner, under whom he serves as lieutenant governor.
Kaine painted Kilgore as untrustworthy and uninformed, while Kilgore portrayed Kaine as a tax-loving liberal.
Moderator Larry Sabato, a political professor at the University of Virginia, later called it a draw. U.Va.'s Center for Politics, which Sabato directs, and Richmond television station WWBT co-sponsored the debate, which was broadcast on CSPAN and most NBC affiliates in the state.
The third candidate, independent Russ Potts, was not allowed to participate because he failed to reach 15 percent in the polls, a rule established by the debate organizers. He filed a federal lawsuit late last week seeking a place, but lost it.
The only new promise of the night was Kaine's acceptance of a challenge laid down by Sabato in the closing minutes--to keep at least half of his campaign ads positive. Kilgore would not make any such promise.
Kaine later told reporters he thinks his campaign is already positive, and that he was incredulous Kilgore couldn't say the same.
"We've not run a single negative ad except responding to ads my opponent puts up," Kaine said. "I don't think responding to a negative is a negative. I'm not going to be a punching bag. We've had to correct misstatements of fact over and over again."
Kilgore said his ads are truthful and contain links to Web sites that back them up.
"We have a ratio, but I'm not going to talk about it, it's campaign strategy," Kilgore said. "I'm not going to allow a moderator or anyone to make political decisions."
The two men sparred over questions submitted by viewers beforehand, which were asked by Sabato, as well as questions from a panel of journalists and questions Sabato asked himself. The candidates had only 60 seconds to respond and 30 seconds for rebuttal, which meant they covered a wide variety of issues, but very quickly.
On illegal immigration, Kaine was asked why he earlier called Kilgore "mean-spirited" for advocating against the Herndon City Council's decision to build a day-laborer center for immigrant workers.
Kaine said he is "deeply opposed" to illegal immigration, but that it's the federal government's failure to stop it that put Herndon and other communities in the position of having to deal with illegal immigrants.
"I wouldn't support state efforts for that," he said, but "I did oppose Jerry Kilgore for stepping out and beating up on local officials."
Kilgore stood by his opposition to using taxpayer money to help illegal aliens.
"Mr. Kaine, I ask you, what part of 'illegal' don't you understand?" Kilgore said.
Both men said they would use eminent domain powers, if necessary, to move residents and businesses from the area around Oceana Air Force Base in Norfolk, which was targeted by the federal base-closure commission because there are civilian structures in its planes' flight path. Kaine and Kilgore both agreed that saving jobs at Oceana takes precedence.
But they differed starkly, as they have in the past, in their responses to questions about the death penalty.
Kilgore supports the death penalty, and said Kaine has worked against it, and that his position now is disingenuous.
"You gave no comfort to Virginians tonight that you could uphold the death penalty," Kilgore said.
Kaine's position is that while he personally opposes capital punishment for religious reasons, he would not act to end it in Virginia if he were governor.
"I'm not going to change my religion just to get elected. I'll sign death warrants," Kaine said. "I won't use the clemency power any differently from the way any other governors have."
He was later asked why, if he has a personal opposition to the death penalty, he wouldn't act on those convictions as governor. Kaine said he would be true to his oath of office, and pointed out that President John F. Kennedy, also a Catholic, faced similar doubts but was able to uphold his oath of office.
"Tim Kaine, you're no John F. Kennedy," Kilgore said.
Kaine also opposes abortion for faith-based reasons, but similarly said he would not punish women or doctors.
Kilgore has taken more heat on the abortion issue, after refusing to answer a question in the candidates' last debate about whether he'd sign a law banning abortion if the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the issue to the states.
Last night, the question was put to Kilgore a bit differently. He was asked whether he still advocates criminal sanctions against women and doctors.
Kilgore said while he supports "a culture of life," he does not want to criminalize women. He left the door open on doctors, saying that both he and Kaine have supported sanctions against doctors who perform illegal abortions.
Afterward, Kilgore told reporters that "if the Supreme Court gives us new parameters, I support life-affirming legislation."
Kilgore was also asked how he can say he supports a "culture of life" but still advocates the death penalty. He said he wants to protect innocent life, but not "those who've committed the most heinous crimes."
On other issues, Kaine said he would support requiring parental consent for minors to get access to the "morning-after pill," or emergency contraception, if there were judicial bypasses for girls who might have problematic family lives.
Asked whether he would sign a controversial proclamation naming a Confederate History Month in Virginia, Kilgore said he would recognize that period of history as a way to promote the tourism value of historic sites like Civil War battlefields.
Both men said they'd support allowing Virginia's governor to serve two consecutive terms, if the governor gave up certain appointive powers.
Kilgore was asked whether the Republican Party of Virginia should have sued its insurance company after the firm refused to cover the party's settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Democrats when a former RPV director was caught eavesdropping on a Democratic conference call.
Kilgore said the party didn't ask him, but "if I had my druthers, I'd have rather they not sue."
They split again over a question of whether the governor should get involved in right-to-die cases like Florida's Terri Schiavo controversy.
Kaine pointed out that former Gov. Jim Gilmore, who is involved with Kilgore's campaign, intervened in a similar case in Virginia. Kaine said he would stay out of such cases because the court system is an adequate remedy when there is a conflict. He said governors should avoid such "political grandstanding."
Kilgore said he would not let anyone starve to death, but encouraged people to fill out advance medical directives before something dire happens.
After the debate, Sabato said neither candidate made any large gaffes, nor did they do anything to move the campaign out of the deadlock it's been in for weeks.
"I suspect they reached their bases, mainly because that's who was watching," Sabato said. "I didn't hear anything that would change the fundamentals of the campaign."
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