Deeds, McDonnell meet for final debate

By Bob Lewis

SALEM

In their final debate before the gubernatorial race in two weeks, Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell on Tuesday sparred early on how to revive Virginia's ailing transportation system.

In a format that let the men interact, McDonnell said Deeds had no clear plans for building roads. Deeds again offered only general concepts, saying he would sign a bill raising taxes on items that "had a nexus to transportation." When asked to specify, he said if it involves how people travel, it qualifies.

But McDonnell was also taken to task, both by Deeds and the debate panelists, for a list of ideas that raised serious questions about whether they can work or are even permissible under federal law.

The issue later turned to the graduate thesis McDonnell wrote in 1989 at age 34. It was a conservative manifesto that called working women a detriment to society and was critical of gays and unmarried couples who live together.

When asked why his campaign had dwelled on the paper since The Washington Post disclosed it in late August, Deeds said because it's relevant.

"It explains why he has singularly focused on a social agenda during his years in office," Deeds said.

But McDonnell said Deeds seized on the paper because he had nothing else to offer, then played on voter angst about proposals by President Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress.

"He's tied in with his Washington allies on cap and trade and card check and unfunded mandates," McDonnell said, noting a controversial energy bill and one that would make it easier for unions to organize.

The debate, starting exactly two weeks before the polls close on Election Day, has Deeds in urgent need of a game-changing moment and McDonnell needing only to preserve a lead he has maintained for months.

With Republicans eager to reassert themselves in a state they once dominated after being routed at every level a year ago, Deeds is looking to energize Democrats.

He campaigned last week with former Vice President Al Gore, a hero to environmentalists. On Monday he rallied with former President Bill Clinton and, just as importantly, his primary rival and former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe. Next week, he is scheduled to campaign in Hampton Roads with President Barack Obama.

The debate was produced by Roanoke television WSLS and aired nationally on CSPAN. WSLS newsman Jay Warren moderated the debate along with Bob Denton, a professor of communications at Virginia Tech.