The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Dividing Democratic Trust

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Jerry Kilgore's death penalty ads continue to reverberate in the Virginia gubernatorial election. The Post pushes the issue to A1 today, featuring Tim Kaine's objection to the death penalty as a substantial wedge between him and his predecessor, Gov. Mark Warner.

Kilgore, who has tried to expand the kinds of crimes that would be eligible for the death penalty, has talked throughout the campaign about Kaine's opposition throughout the campaign. But even the Democrats were prepared for the stark and emotional tone of his ads.

They were such a success that the Commonwealth Conservative is calling this "the week that Tim Kaine lost the election." And with Kaine's new ad suggesting that the traffic solution is less growth, not more roads, the Home Builders Association of Virginia is now expected to send letters to its 6000 members criticizing Kaine. See TAS's notes on the ads here, here, and here.

UPDATE (10 a.m.): The Kaine campaign is well aware of the damage from this issue and has scheduled a conference call for 2 p.m. this afternoon. Keep in mind they tried this once on Tuesday in a rather abortive attempt. Also, the Post's Marc Fisher tries to help wrap Kaine in Catholic Church teaching: "Many American Roman Catholics reject some of the church's teachings. If Kaine said, okay, here's where I differ with my church, most voters would accept that. Instead, he embraces those teachings in his heart, yet resolves to ignore them in his daily work." Again, a lib doesn't bother to cite these teachings, but instead recites the mantra that the Church opposes the death penalty.

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