Deeds, McDonnell throw sharp jabs in debate

McLEAN

In perhaps their most testy public exchange to date, Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds sparred Thursday over everything from who would be the most business-friendly governor to their stances on federal legislative proposals.

McDonnell repeated previous accusations that Deeds hasn't articulated a transportation plan, at one point holding up a blank sheet of paper as an example of what he says are Deeds' ideas to pay for road projects.

"I'm shocked that 47 days to go, my opponent walks in here and has no transportation plan - not one dime, not one project," McDonnell said during a debate with Deeds in Northern Virginia. "Here's my opponents' plan - not a thing on it. Look at his Web site. There's nothing there."

Deeds hasn't committed to a specific funding plan, saying that doing so might alienate legislators whose support he would need to get a bill passed. Instead, he has offered conceptual ideas about a statewide transportation plan.

McDonnell's plan relies on drawing funds from several unproven sources, including the privatization of state liquor stores, tolls on some highways, royalties from as yet unauthorized offshore drilling along Virginia's coastline and future tax revenue growth at the Hampton Roads port.

Deeds said several of those ideas will rob the state general fund of hundreds of millions that otherwise would be spent on education.

"I will not rob Peter to pay Paul," he said. "I will not take money out of other core responsibilities of government. I will not take money out of education. I've been in the legislature 18 years. I've got a long record of getting things done whether I'm in the minority or majority. I'm confident that I can bring people together and get transportation fixed next year."

Both men said that if elected, they would not raise taxes despite the recession. Deeds later clarified that he would support an increase to pay for roads but wouldn't support other new general-fund levies.

McDonnell said emphatically that he would not support any tax hikes.

Deeds repeatedly hammered McDonnell over his 1989 graduate thesis, which advocated a conservative social agenda and took the position that women who work outside the home are harmful to society.

McDonnell has disavowed some of the 93-page treatise, but Deeds continues to invoke it.

"Three weeks ago, nobody in the world had read that thesis. Now that's all my opponent wants to talk about," McDonnell said.

He said he continues to believe that strong families "are the bedrock of society, and I think that government policies ought to promote them."

McDonnell said that as attorney general, he had a record of hiring women and added that a woman ran his campaign four years ago.

The Republican said he has encouraged his daughters to earn graduate degrees and called his oldest daughter, Jeanine, who is an Iraq war veteran, "the ultimate working woman."

Deeds said the "insidious" thesis dovetails with McDonnell's record as a legislator, pointing to his votes against a resolution promoting a gender-equality pay day, and, later, noting McDonnell's opposition to abortion.

When Deeds returned to the thesis near the end of the debate, it drew groans from some in the crowd of roughly 450 inside Capital One's sprawling complex.

There was considerable back-and-forth over the men's legislative records and federal proposals to limit greenhouse gas emissions and make it easier for workers to unionize, as well as the national health care plan working its way through Congress.

McDonnell worked to tie Deeds to some of those proposals, claiming they would be harmful to businesses during a tough economic span.

That prompted Deeds to distance himself from some of those ideas. He made perhaps his most forceful public statement about the greenhouse gas bill, saying he doesn't favor the current draft.

On education reform, though, McDonnell stressed his agreement with President Barack Obama's ideas on charter schools.

One of the more revealing moments of the debate came when Deeds was asked whether any of the opposition Obama has faced over his agenda is attributable to racism. Deeds said some of it can be.

McDonnell disagreed, when asked after the debate, but said some critics have been "uncivil."

Aside from those dust-ups, both men largely emphasized similar talking points, with each accusing the other of misrepresenting aspects of his record.

"It's easy in an election year for my opponent to talk about job creation and bipartisanship. But a better indication of what kind of governor either of us would be is, look at the record. And the differences between us are stark," said Deeds, whacking McDonnell for opposing the 2004 tax increase that helped balance the state budget and boost education spending.

McDonnell countered that his endorsements from a host of business groups and executives indicate that people responsible for creating jobs see him as the best leader for the state.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com