Washington Post endorses the Dem ticket for Virginia

The Washington Post has endorsed the Democratic ticket for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General. It cited the Dems commitment to fiscal responsibility. It comdemned Jerry Kilgore's reliance on talking points and use of the word liberal as a dirty word. The WaPo praised Tim Kaine's ability to think on his feet. It also endorsed the Democrat candidates saying,

Voters will also face races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, the jobs Mr. Kaine and Mr. Kilgore won four years ago. For lieutenant governor, the choice is between polar opposites -- Democrat Leslie L. Byrne of Fairfax, a former state delegate, state senator, congresswoman and White House official, and Republican state Sen. Bill Bolling of Hanover County. Ms. Byrne is as close to a traditional liberal as Virginia has to offer; Mr. Bolling is an orthodox conservative; both are smart, tough and articulate. We are swayed less by their ideological leanings than their stands on fiscal matters. There Ms. Byrne has the edge, having backed the Warner tax package last year.

For attorney general, a refreshingly civil campaign has been waged between Republican state Del. Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia Beach and Democratic state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County. Mr. McDonnell is an able, articulate legislator, but we worry he would bring a dogmatically conservative social agenda to the job. He has been among the General Assembly's staunchest opponents of abortion rights and a supporter of state intervention in end-of-life decisions, as in the Terri Schiavo case.

Mr. Deeds, a rural lawmaker, is no liberal; he won the National Rifle Association's endorsement. We think he would be the more pragmatic choice, and a better attorney general.

I think we can to put rest the myth that Republicans are the party of "get the government off your back". They seem to have no problem intervening in personal lives when it comes to private medical decisions. Remember when a Republican says he is a fiscal conservative, he really is a credit card conservative.