The GOP chooses sides in the U.S. Senate race

Democrat Mark R. Warner made a splash when he won the support of two key Republicans in his bid for the U.S. Senate.

John Chichester and Vince Callahan, both now retired, chaired the General Assembly's money committees when Warner first cut spending then raised taxes. Chichester was in the Senate and Callahan was in the House of Delegates.

Warner successfully pitched the 2004 tax increases as a way to right the financial ship of state. Both men say he charted the correct course.

Now comes another view from a supporter of Warner's opponent, Republican Jim Gilmore. Like Chichester and Callahan, this Republican also had a ringside seat at the budget wars.

Del. Kirk Cox of Colonial Heights says Warner talks a lot about managing the budget, but that misses the point.

"He 'managed' by raising our taxes and spending more," Cox writes in an op-ed piece.

Cox, a member of the House Appropriations Committee under Callahan, also points out that Virginia ended up with budget surpluses under Warner. So why were tax increases needed in the first place?

Expect to hear more of this from both sides. Gilmore and Warner are former governors who have constantly fought over each other's job performance. The campaign will ratchet up on Saturday when the two square off in their first debate at the Homestead resort.

Meanwhile, check out the attached op-ed from Cox.

Download CoxOpEd.docx

Comments

[J. Tyler Ballance]

I was at the gun show in Hanover on Saturday. Both Gilmore and Warner had tables and were trying to hand out lapel stickers, bumper stickers and yard signs.

I didn't see anyone taking either the Gilmore or Warner stickers. I got a cool looking, "Veterans for McCain", bumper sticker from the Republican table, but the hands down favorite sticker among the several thousand attendees, were the stickers that were handed out by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. About ninety percent of Saturday's attendees were sporting Confederate Battle Flag stickers, courtesy of the SCV.