The difference in attitude between Tim Kaine and Jerry Kilgore could not be epitomized any better than by their differing reaction to stellar new Virginia jobs numbers released recently. According to today's Washington Examiner, "The commonwealth's economy grew by more than 50,000 jobs between June 2004 and June 2005. " The Examiner notes thatTim Kaine is giving some credit for this happy news to the pro-growth, fiscally prudent policies of the Warner/Kaine Administration. Rightly so. Meanwhile, all Jerry Kilgore can do is snipe from the sidelines, denying that Warner/Kaine had anything to do with it, and instead blaming them for the historic, bipartisan tax deal which saved this state's finances and restored its AAA bond rating. Here's Kilgore spokesman Tim Murtaugh on the fantastic job numbers: "...we'll never know what could have been if Tom Kaine had not been so eager to raise taxes." Yeah, whatever Mr. Murtaugh. And we'll never know how well this state could have done if Jim Gilmore hadn't nearly driven us into a ditch, either, or if Jerry Kilgore had been governor the past four years and had allowed the state's budget deficit to balloon out of control.
Anyway, the point here is that the Kilgore campaign is proving itself to be unremittingly negative, turning every silver lining into a dark cloud and preying on peoples' worst fears. Perhaps this is because Kilgore and Howell realize that they have nothing really new to offer, and that Warner/Kaine have done a great job the past four years. That could explain why Kilgore and Howell have resorted to a strategy of criticizing anything and everything, even great news like this jobs report. Meanwhile, the Kaine campaign continues traveling around the state, bringing its positive, optimistic, and forward-looking message about jobs and education to all Virginians. Which campaign do you prefer?