Warner and Kaine: Two Peas in the Death Penalty/2nd Amendment Pod?
GOP gubernatorial nominee Jerry Kilgore surprised some Virginia politicians a few months back when he said in a meeting with Post reporters and editors that he was more like Mark Warner than Tim Kaine will ever be.
Well, now a group is trying to prove it. The Center for Individual Freedom, which bills itself as "a non-partisan, non-profit organization with the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms and individual rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution," is starting to run television ads it dubs "Mark and Tim," comparing the two Dems' views on the death penalty and the Second Amendment.
For instance, the ads point out that Kaine said in 2001 that he supported a moratorium on the death penalty, although he has said he would uphold state law if elected governor. Warner is supportive of the death penalty, as is Kilgore.
A press release announcing the ads says they will run in Roanoke and Norfolk and "may expand to other areas of the state in coming weeks."
Marshall Manson, the Alexandria-based group's vice president of public affairs, said that the group considers itself "conservative, but the more accurate term would probably be libertarian."
He said the group has taken stands on national political issues. For example, the group supported President Bush's judicial nominees getting a "straight up and down" vote before the U.S. Senate last month.
Now its got its sights on the Old Dominion's guv race.
"Tim Kaine is running around the state saying how close he is to Mark Warner," Manson said in an interview this afternoon. His statement accompanying the ad goes on to say: "It's time [Kaine] stopped trying to fool Virginians. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are far apart. Kaine's anti-death penalty, anti-gun rights record couldn't be any clearer."
Kaine's people were having none of it, saying that the Democrat stands firmly with Warner on his willingness to uphold the death penalty.
"Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both absolutely believe in enforcing the death penalty," said Kaine's director of communications, Mo Elleithee. "Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both believe Virgina needs no new gun laws, and that we need to better enforce the laws that are on the books."
By Chris Jenkins |
June 20, 2005; 1:26 PM ET
| Category:
Jerry Kilgore
, Tim Kaine
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Posted by: Mo Elleithee | June 20, 2005 05:24 PM
"invest resources in local law enforcement"
That should read: take more money from the tax payers and give it to government employees.
Being against government largess does not make one pro-crime.
Mo Elleithee has a thing or two to learn about logic.
Posted by: Not4you | June 21, 2005 06:22 PM
Religious intolerance! Kaine's religious conviction leads him to the personal moral decision that both the death penalty and abortion is wrong.
But as state elected leader, he is committed to the rule of law!
Now what's so difficult to understand...?
As devout Christians know, Jesus said to Peter that forgiving his brethren seven times seven was not good enough.
Seventy times seventy. In order words, always!
Posted by: | June 30, 2005 07:59 PM
Since when is the death penalty a libertarian issue?
Posted by: | July 14, 2005 02:10 PM
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Unfortunately, the esteemed author of the above blog left out one of the most important points in my quote, so I will take this opportunity to complete it...
Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are both committed to keeping guns out of the hands of violent criminals, and as Mayor, Tim Kaine has a record of doing that. Last year, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine worked to invest resources in local law enforcement so that our police and sheriffs had the tools they need to fight crime, but Jerry Kilgore stood against our law enforcement officers.
This attack ad is clearly an effort to draw attention away from Jerry Kilgore's weak record on fighting crime.