Kaine Kilgore Debate

I just finished a "liveblog" event over at Commonwealth Conservative. It was exhilarating, and exhausting.

Kilo over at Spark It Up suggested earlier in the evening that he would like to see a live blog of the debate between Chad and myself, and Waldo and Brian. That was pretty intimidating, the thought that Kilo would place me in the same category as those three was extremely flattering.
Alas, that did not happen, even though when I think about it, now that it is over, I would have enjoyed that as well.

My thoughts on the debate;

Jerry Kilgore did very well. The expectations were low, admittedly, but he more than rose to the occasion.

Tim Kaine did not do well. He struggled on several occasions to distance himself from his record, and tried too many times to count to link himself to Mark Warner. Even to the extent at one time of seeming to advocate a second Warner Administration.

Someone, early in the debate, made a comment regarding Tim Kaine's left eyebrow....
That totally destroyed my attention until I stopped looking at the TV screen, and focused on the audio. The man has got one weird eyebrow...

Kilgore hammered him on several key points, primarily the fact that he has raised taxes in every position he has held, and the fact that Government Magazine rated him so poorly as Richmond's mayor, and finally on the dismal record he brings with him after presiding over the Richmond School System. At the end of Kaine's term as Mayor, of 51 schools, only 5 were accredited. That point was brought out at least twice, and maybe more.

Tomorrow's editorials will be the final arbiters of how the debate turned out. Some will honestly call it for Kilgore, others (The Roanoke Times, maybe? I'll know when I sit down at Kaye's Kitchen tomorrow) will spin it for Kaine. Hopefully some of the other SWVA papers will provide an honest assesment on the debate. (Step up to the plate, Bristol Herald Courier, The Dickenson Star, The Virginia Mountaineer, The Powell Valley News, and the Richlands News Press and report on this debate fairly. I don't expect to see anything in The Martinsville Bulletin, hopefully I'll be surprised.)

All in all, I believe this debate was and will continue to be a "plus" for Jerry Kilgore. I am psyched now, and ready for the final month of this campaign.