Ganging up on Kaine

This time, it's gangs. But the story's the same: Tim and Jerry goin' at it.

It started Monday, with Jerry Kilgore rolling out (again) his plans for dealing with Northern Virginia's growing gang problem. He wants to do a lot of stuff, but the major newsmaker was his idea to allow the death penalty for most accomplices to capital murder.

Tim Kaine spokeswoman Delacey Skinner declined to say whether Kaine thinks that's a good idea. That prompted an e-mail from Skinner's alter ego in the Kilgore camp, Tim Murtaugh. The e-mail was titled "It's really Just a Yes or No Question," and offered a place for Kaine to check "Yes" or "No." (At the end, Murtaugh wrote, "Please check only one."

Earlier, Skinner issued her own e-mail, saying that gang violence had increased a 220 percent during Kilgore's term as secretary of public safety. In the fine print, you see the period she's talking about is 1994 to 1996, ignoring Kilgore's more recent service as attorney general.

Murtaugh retorted that the period Skinner picked included new reporting requirements for gang violence, then a new problem. So of course, it went up, he said.

Murtaugh promised that gangs will be a big issue as the campaigns move forward.

By Michael Shear |  June 21, 2005; 6:03 PM ET  | Category:  Jerry Kilgore , Tim Kaine
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