By Fredrick Kunkle

Virginia's candidates for lieutenant governor duked it out in their one and only face-to-face debate in Salem Monday night with feisty and sometimes personal exchanges over taxes, jobs, education and each other's competence.

In a one-hour debate hosted by Roanoke College, Republican Lt. Governor Bill Bolling repeatedly blamed Democratic challenger Jody M. Wagner for making poor decisions as a top finance official that complicated Virginia's efforts to cope with the recession.

Bolling said Wagner, who served as secretary of finance under Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, had muffed important revenue forecasts while preparing the current two-year budget, forcing the governor to cut jobs and take other drastic measures to keep the books balanced.

"We're in this mess because four years ago we adopted a budget that was based on a totally unrealistic fiscal foundation," Bolling said. He also accused Wagner of wanting to raise taxes at every turn.

But Wagner, 54, who owns a small confectionary business and also served as treasurer for former Gov. Mark Warner, argued that her record as a financial steward had left Virginia in a better place than most other states. And she used almost every question as another opportunity to zing Bolling for not coming to work.

Happy Friday, Virginia, here's what's happening in state politics today.

The news offers political junkies two interesting indicators about the gubernatorial contest between R. Creigh Deeds (D) and Robert F. McDonnell (R). The two men sparred over a wide range of issues, from the economy to energy to gay adoptions, at a debate in Tysons Corner yesterday, which was tense from the very start.

Afterward, Deeds was asked by a scrum of reporters about an apparent contradiction in his position on raising taxes for transportation. The line of questioning provoked a snippy response to a female reporter, which was caught on tape. Bob McCartney was not impressed with Deeds' performance.

In his closing statement during today's debate, Deeds said McDonnell "never wrote a bill to create a job." Afterward, a reporter asked McDonnell about this accusation.

Here's how he responded: "I carried the historic welfare reform bill in 1995. Do you know what that bill did? It put women to work. It created the transportation and health-care benefits and tax support so that women could go back to work, and then a year after that I introduced a tax credit bill to give businesses the ability to receive tax credits for hiring people."

Okay, so neither exactly created jobs. But the welfare bill did require people to work to get state welfare benefits. We wrote more on that bill and McDonnell's repeated references to it in this campaign.

Good morning Virginia, here's what's happening in state politics today.

R. Creigh Deeds (D) and Robert F. McDonnell (R) face off today in a much-anticipated debate before Northern Virginia's business community, to be moderated by David Gregory of "Meet the Press." A lot is at stake today for both gubernatorial candidates, as McDonnell seeks to move beyond the thesis that has dominated headlines in recent weeks and Deeds aims to overcome the unfriendly atmosphere for Democrats nationally.

What had been a pretty sleepy campaign for governor woke up this week, with a number of important developments culminating in Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell's first debate this morning at the Homestead in rural Bath County.

The week saw some big endorsements--and non-endorsements. First, Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine's second biggest donor announced she was supporting Republican McDonnell. Deeds countered with the support of some moderate Republicans and the less surprising news that the Virginia Education Association is backing him. Good feeling from those nods was erased at week's end by news that former Democratic Gov. L. Douglas Wilder said he remains neutral, White House pressure or no.

We also saw some major policy roll outs--a jobs plan from Deeds, a transportation plan from McDonnell.

All of this will be grist for what should be a vigorous engagement between the two candidates in front of the Virginia Bar Association. The event gives both candidates their first clear opportunity to fight for the title of the race's moderate, to compare and contrast their plans and to personally size one another up, four years after the two battled to the closest finish in Virginia history in the 2005 race for attorney general.

Stay tuned at this site for live coverage of the debate starting at 11 a.m., including live analysis as the debate unfolds and streaming video of the event.

For years, the Virginia Bar Association has hosted the first debate between statewide candidates, either at the Homestead or Greenbrier resorts. This year is no exception.

But for the first time, everyone will be able to watch the debate instead of just the few hundred lawyers attending the association's annual meeting.

This time, the association in conjunction with the soon-to-be-launched Web site, VirginiaTalks.com, will offer a free, live and interactive statewide broadcast of the debate to be held July 25 at 11 a.m.

Viewers of the live streaming video will be able to join a simultaneous, online discussion during the debate and to submit questions that may be asked during the debate. The debate will be available online through Election Day.

"We're honored to partner with the Virginia Bar Association to provide access to this debate across the Commonwealth and beyond," said Jason Roop, editor in chief of VirginiaTalks.com. "The VBA should be commended for launching this important election season by transforming this special event into one that can be seen and heard by voters everywhere."

A week from today, The Washington Post will host the fifth and final debate between the Democratic candidates vying to be the next governor of Virginia.

The Post wants your questions for the candidates; if we choose yours, you'll be invited to attend the debate, which will be at 2 p.m. on Northern Virginia Community College's Annadale campus.

Submit your questions here.

Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) and Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath), both candidates for governor next year, will represent the two presidential candidates in a debate Oct. 29 in Lynchburg.

McDonnell is the presumed Republican nominee but Deeds faces a tough primary fight with Del. Brian J. Moran (D-Alexandria) and possibly Terry McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Deeds will represent Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and McDonnell will represent Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Deeds narrowly lost the race for attorney general in 2005 to McDonnell in one of the closest races in Virginia history.

Former governor Mark R. Warner (D) will not participate in the only U.S. Senate debate this fall that was to be televised statewide.

Warner's opponent, former governor James S. Gilmore, had agreed to participate in the debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Virginia.

"Mark Warner apparently does not want the people of Virginia to have an opportunity to understand clearly where he stands on the issues,'' Gilmore said in a statement. "I believe the people of Virginia have a right to see and hear candidates for public office discuss the issues."

Warner and Gilmore participated in their first debate last month at the Homestead Resort but it was not televised and only a few hundred people traveled to western Virginia to watch it. The two have agreed to a Sept. 18 debate, sponsored by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, that will be televised locally in Northern Virginia.

In 2005, Richmond lobbyist David Hallock spent weeks pretending to be Jerry W. Kilgore, the Republican nominee for governor, as a way to help Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) prepare for the first gubernatorial debate.

This year, Hallock is back to help his old boss, former Gov. Mark R. Warner.

Hallock, who had been one of Warner's top lawyers, is playing Republican nominee James S. Gilmore III as Warner prepares for his first debate in this year's U.S. Senate debate.

Democrat J. Chapman Petersen, who is seeking to unseat Fairfax state Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R) in what is widely viewed as one of the most competitive races in Virginia this year, put the Fairfax Education Association in a tough spot at a candidates forum Sunday at which he claimed that the teacher group endorsed Davis only because she is the incumbent.

"I don't have the FEA endorsement because I'm not an incumbent," Petersen told the audience at Temple Rodef Shalom Sunday morning. "It's funny -- the president of the FEA said, 'I'll come to every single one of your fundraisers, and I'll write you a personal check, but understand that we can't go against an incumbent that meets the minimum score.' Our children deserve better than the minimum score. If I'm elected, you're going to get better than the minimum score."

A standard feature of candidate debates are cue cards, usually held up by an intrepid volunteer stationed in the front row, to tell candidates how much time they have left to speak. Organizers of Thursday's McLean Chamber of Commerce breakfast forum came up with an unusual prod for folks to finish up. After cards reading "1 minute," "30 seconds" and "Time," those still orating saw one that read, "Blah Blah."
Fairfax County Board Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) liked it so much he asked if he could have it. "Maybe I'll bring it to future debates," he quipped.
Or perhaps bring it to flash at windy constituents in public hearings.

Republican Gary H. Baise says that if elected Chairman of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors he would halt the planned Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport unless the elevated segment through Tysons Corner was built below ground.

"My first action would be to stop that project until we get it right," Baise said at a Thursday breakfast forum sponsored by the McLean Chamber of Commerce.

Baise, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Gerald E. Connolly, is on record supporting a Tysons tunnel. But this morning's pledge was his most explicit of the campaign on the Dulles project, which he has also criticized for its mushrooming cost, dearth of transparency and lack of competitive bidding on aspects of the contract. His vow drew applause from the audience at the Westin Tysons.

Baise also trashed Dulles Transit Partners, the private construction consortium headed by Bechtel and Washington Group International that would build the 11.6 mile first phase of the project from Falls Church to Wiehle Avenue in Reston. Bechtel was lead contractor on the notorious "Big Dig" highway project in Boston.

"I don't think these are two companies you can trust with the people' money," Baise said.

It's not completely clear what Baise could do about Dulles rail as chairman. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) heads the project. He could try to pull the county's share of the funding, which is in the form of revenue from a special taxing district comprised of land owners and businesses in the Dulles corridor. But he would need five four other votes on the nine-member board.

With apologies to H.L. Mencken, there are lies, damn lies and debates.
In their series of joint appearances across Fairfax County this fall, Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) and challenger Gary H. Baise (R) each rely their own menu of "facts" to animate their basic message. For Connolly, Fairfax is the "envy of the nation," the land of high SAT scores and low crime rates. For Baise, it is county at risk, choking on traffic and profligate government spending.
The casualties are context, nuance and the truth.
Connolly is proud of the crime rate, which in 2006 reached lows not seen since the 1970s. There were about 1700 crimes per 100,000 residents, representing an overall drop of about 6.9 percent over 2005. What he fails to mention is the significant increases in robbery and burglary, up 18.4 percent and 17.6 percent respectively.
SAT scores are another favorite note. The combined verbal and match score of 1108 is nearly 100 points above national averages--- just as they have been for years before Connolly took office in Fairfax. What does he have to do with it, other than sending a large county check to the school district every year? He doesn't say.

Many yearn for more civility in our politics, but few walk the walk like Carey Campbell, Independent Green candidate for the Braddock District seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Campbell begins every candidates' forum and debate by presenting his opponent, incumbent Sharon Bulova (D), with a bouquet of flowers. He also asks the audience to give Bulova, running for her sixth four-year term, a round of applause.

Some Fairfax County Democrats are still buzzing about Gary H. Baise's likening of illegal immigration to the heroin trade at his Sept. 18 Chamber of Commerce debate with Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D).

Fairfax County Supervisor Joan M. DuBois (R-Dranesville) did a bit of inexplicable redistricting at the McLean Citizens Association debate Tuesday night when she placed Tysons Corner in the Hunter Mill District. DuBois, locked in what is regarded as a tight race against Democrat John Foust, was trying to make the point that Dranesville often has little control over development activity in Tysons because none of it is in the district. The she added and that she sometimes has a difficult time "getting the attention" of Hunter Mill Supervisor Catherine Hudgins (D) on Tysons issues. This would no doubt be true, since nearly all of the mammoth office and commercial center is in Providence District, represented by Linda Q. Smyth (D).

DuBois blanched when informed of the mistake afterward.

"Sorry about that," she said.

Gerald E. Connolly (D), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, on Tuesday will announce endorsements from three environmental organizations: the Sierra Club, the Clean Water Action Project, and the Fairfax chapter of the League of Conservation Voters.

Fairfax County Board Chairman Gerry Connolly (D) and Republican challenger Gary Baise could not be preparing more differently for Tuesday afternoon's Chamber of Commerce debate at the Westin Tysons Corner.
Baise, a Republican attorney his first run for public office, said he has been meeting with advisers, studying briefing books and doing mock debates.
"It's just like I'd prepare for a case," said Baise, who mostly defends corporate clients in environmental matters. "I'm reading documents. I always do moot courts. "
And Connolly? Not much, really. The Democratic incumbent, seeking a second term, said the plan is to show up.
"If you don't know it by now, cramming isn't going to help," he said. "I usually just go for a walk in the morning to clear my head."
Baise, who is expected to attack Connolly's record on traffic and transportation policy, trails Connolly by close to a 10-to-1 margin in fundraising. Connolly has raised just over $900,000. But Baise sounded almost hopeful this week, citing private polling that shows him down 16 points but placing Connolly's negatives at more than 40 percent.
"I'm at least within striking distance," Baise said.
Connolly scoffed at Baise's numbers.
"That's quite a poll. I'd call that a wishful thinking poll," he said, adding that his negatives are closer to 14.