Tim Kaine was sanctioned today by the State Board of Elections, under pressure from Republican lawyers supporting Jerry W. Kilgore. The Kaine campaign sent a mailer that did not meet the requirements of Virginia's "Stand By Your Ad" law.
Could the Kilgore lawyers have pushed this sanction through so as to cover the Kilgore campaign perpetrating the same crime? It looks like that's just what they did.
Read the story from the Associated Press.:
Kilgore sends disguised mailer as Kaine is fined for same tacticAs Republican lawyers urged state election officials Friday to punish Democrat Tim Kaine for a gubernatorial campaign mailing that impersonated official GOP fliers, voters received brochures from Republican Jerry Kilgore replete with an official Democratic donkey logo.
It seems that at the very same moment that Jerry Kilgore had his lawyers screaming for action from the Board of Elections, the Kilgore campaign targeted a letter to Democrats and Progressives containing a lengthy comparison of Kaine positions and those of independent canididate Russell Potts. Kilgore disguised the letter to make it look like a mailing from the Democratic party.
Potts demanded an apology:
"This is a new low and ... I think it indicates the trademark of the Jerry Kilgore campaign: the end justifies the means, do anything to win," Potts said."I never authorized anything like this," he said. "I expect a personal apology from Jerry Kilgore."
Larry Sabato declared the whole mess a sesspool of hypocrisy:
"Hypocrisy is the lifeblood of politics," said Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics."Both Kaine and Kilgore are generally nice people ? some of my favorites ? but they have let these consultants and staffers run one of the nastiest, most petty races I have seen in 40 years of covering state elections," Sabato said.
And this part is so deceptive and bizarre that I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around it:
Kilgore's most conspicuous turnabout, however, is that his mailing describes Kaine as hostile to "protecting undocumented workers" even as Kilgore television ads portray Kaine as coddling illegal immigrants who are "jeopardizing jobs and security."
On TV Kilgore accuses Kaine of giving away America to "illegals," but his mailer accuses Kaine of being mean and nasty to those poor souls who seek solace on American soil. As Larry Sabato says, ?Hypocrisy is the lifeblood of politics.?
Anyway, don't let this Kilgore campaign claptrap divert your attention away from what's important in this election. Tim Kaine is the only candidate with a positive vision for the future of Virginia. Jerry Kilgore is just "All Negative, All the Time." If this is how Kilgore runs a campaign, it's pretty obvious how he'd run the commonwealth.
On November 8 elect Tim Kaine Governor of Virginia. Then go take a long hot shower.