Maybe those ads would have helped? Helped what? Helped the Kilgore campaign fool people into thinking Kilgore is better man than the one we have been watching play the politics of "mean" against the Kaine Campaign's politics of "meaning."

Plastic decoder rings, fake memos, fake data, fake tape-recordings, outright LIES, guys jumping up and down on trampolines are no match for a guy who, under attack for his religious and professional ethics, can trust the people of Virginia enough to look straight in the camera and tell us who he is and what he stands for.

This down-to-earth gutsiness is the essence of what has made this nation great. When Kaine does this he is truly "a man in full," a man who speaks his mind and gives his word, a man without a bunch of gimmicks or a slick advertising man selling his message.

I must confess -- I don't agree with Tim Kaine on the death penalty -- nor do I agree with Jerry Kilgore. We have all heard enough stories about innocent people who are sometimes convicted and guilty ones who go free to be 100 percent certain in the infallibility of our legal system. Still, it is the best the world has to offer. I think most Americans know this deep in our hearts and most of us come down at a mid-point somewhere between Kilgore's public position and Kaine's religious position and promise to enforce the death penalty.

But, here's the difference: I can trust Tim Kaine. I believe him when he promises to uphold the law. I cannot say the same for Jerry Kilgore.

Kilgore's litany of lies, his willingness to be vindictive and play fast and loose with the facts, makes me think he is just one more politician willing to do and say anything to get elected.

The Great Debate Chase, the stretching of truth to the point of absurdity and those negative death penalty ads demonstrate a cynicism that is destructive of the basic goodness that America is supposed to be. We are supposed to be a nation of people with values and with courage. We are not supposed to be a nation of liars willing to go to any length to make a buck, a nation driven by fear and willing to sacrifice our children for the still not-discovered weapons of mass destruction.

The courage that Kaine demonstrated when he stared into that camera and gave his word to the people of Virginia gives me hope and inspires me to believe that if he can trust us to believe the truth of his promise, then we should trust him to deliver.

Naw, Mike, Kaine doesn't need some fancy ad guy like Scott Howell to try to manipulate the public into believing campaign propaganda.

And, no matter how many ads and how many gallons of perfume someone might spray behind Jerry's ears or between his twinkly toenails, Kilgore's B.S. negativity would still be stinking up the Commonwealth.

Somethings you just can't hide!

It would have helped if they had spent more money on positive ads than negative, or at least brought out the positive ads sooner. Kilgore's negative ads have backfired.

Do the ads have Kilgore in them? Because usually he is embarrassed to be seen in public with himself.

Ba-zing!

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.