"If Virginia's major-party candidates for governor broke any new ground in Sunday night's televised debate, it may only have been in the eyes and ears of voters who saw them in action for the first time.

But Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Jerry Kilgore reinforced the impression that their contest offers voters a clear choice. The rivals stuck closely to carefully crafted campaign themes and traded familiar attacks during an hourlong debate in a Richmond television studio -- the last face-to-face debate of their heated campaign.

Kaine, the lieutenant governor, repeatedly emphasized his political partnership with outgoing Gov. Mark Warner, declaring that he would manage Virginia's government and finances in Warner's bipartisan style if elected.

And he tried to paint Kilgore as an obstructionist, saying Kilgore's opposition to 2004 tax legislation amounted to a slap at the schools, law enforcement agencies and health care programs that benefited from the revenue.

Kilgore, the former attorney general, cast himself as a conservative whose law-and-order record and conservative philosophy matches the philosophy of most Virginia voters.

Kilgore also argued that Kaine has compiled 'the most liberal record' of any candidate ever to seek the governor's office.

The candidates rarely were jarred from their talking points. But their answers to even the most benign questions underscored the hostility that has clouded the campaign from its outset.

From his opening statement, Kaine defined the campaign as a question of competence, insisting he will govern in the same fashion as the politically popular Warner. Kaine criticized Kilgore for opposing the 2004 tax package that will generate $1.4 billion in the current budget cycle, and called his own support for the tax increase one of his most difficult decisions.

'We shouldn't take what we've accomplished in Virginia and throw it away by putting the keys to the office in the hands of a person who has opposed Governor Warner and me at every level,' Kaine said.

Kilgore characterized the choice as one of ideology, repeatedly calling Kaine 'liberal' and describing himself as conservative. Kilgore defended his opposition to the tax increases and one of his signature campaign pledges -- to require referendums for any proposed increases in sales, gasoline or income taxes.

'Taxation is the most basic relationship between the people and the government,' Kilgore said.

In a swipe at Kaine, he added: 'If politicians like Tim Kaine would keep their word, we wouldn't need a referendum.'

Kaine responded testily when Kilgore accused the Democrat of supporting a gasoline tax increase and of presiding over the state's 'second-worst performing school system' during his tenure as Richmond's mayor from 1998 and 2001.

Kaine argued that Richmond's schools improved during his tenure in city government, and that he opposed a Senate-sponsored effort to increase the gasoline tax.

'There you go again, Jerry, just making stuff up,' Kaine complained at one point.

Kaine was asked three questions about his position on the death penalty, which has been a point of controversy in the campaign. Each time Kaine said his moral objection to the death penalty would not prevent him from following the law in carrying out executions.

'Just like any other person, I put my hand on a Bible and I swear to uphold the law, and I will uphold the law,' Kaine said.

Virginia Tech professor Bob Denton, an expert in campaign communications, said both candidates appeared to be trying to cement their support with their core constituencies.

'It just reinforced [perceptions] for your particular candidate,' Denton said. 'This was not really about going after the undecideds tonight.'

Independent candidate Russ Potts was not invited to participate in Sunday's debate because of his poor performance in public opinion polls. Potts filed a lawsuit last week in an effort to get into the debate, but a federal judge dismissed his claim.

The debate was sponsored by the University of Virginia Center for Politics." (Michael Sluss, The Roanoke Times, October 10, 2005)