Tim Kaine said Tuesday that electing George Allen to the U.S. Senate would lead to brass-knuckle politics and a turn-back-the-clock attitude on an already stagnant economy.
As Mr. Allen was wrapping up the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, Mr. Kaine, his Democratic opponent, continued a statewide tour by holding a roundtable discussion at an event in Hampton Roads. In recent months, he has appeared at events with small businesses across the state and hosted discussions with seniors on Medicare, Social Security and other topics.
But he also hasn’t hesitated to go on the offensive against Mr. Allen, his espoused attitudes and his style.
Mr. Kaine said Tuesday that the upcoming general election race for Senate represents a clear choice between two different philosophies.
“I think it’s sort of whether we continue to embrace newly innovative strategies … in the nation or whether we go back to strategies [that haven’t worked],” he said, pointing to his platform of investing in infrastructure and winning the “talent race” through education.
“I think George’s primary economic strategy was demonstrated on the first day of the campaign when he took the Grover Norquist tax pledge,” Mr. Kaine said. “We’ve seen this movie before. We’ve seen what happens with these tax cuts at the top. We tried that, it didn’t work. His proposals would do the same kind of thing.”
Having the luxury of observing the GOP primary battle from outside the fray, Mr. Kaine said that policywise, he didn’t see too many differences among the four candidates on the Republican side, pointing, as one example, to their support for a federal “personhood” bill that would define life as beginning at conception.
“It would not have much [impact] on my Senate race if it were not for the case that George wants to do the same things at the federal level,” Mr. Kaine said after a discussion with seniors at a recent appearance at Greenspring retirement community in Springfield. “I think that’s exactly the wrong kind of thing for the federal government to do, and it’s the kind of wedge-issue politics that drives people apart at a time when the nation really needs folks in office who will pull us together.”
Mr. Allen pledged Tuesday that he would work in a bipartisan manner if elected to Senate, no matter who is sitting in the White House or which party controls the body. He noted that while he didn’t agree on everything with Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, they did find common ground on federal, state and local Internet taxation policies.
“Either way, for legislation to get passed, you’ve got to work across party lines,” he said. “I’ll work with folks who share the same views on a particular issue, regardless of party.”
But Mr. Kaine drew a distinction between finding common ground and playing “inside Capitol Hill power games.”
“I would never define myself as an obstructionist or an opponent of the president of the United States,” he said.
Mr. Kaine is in the unique position of being able to bend the ear of another Republican former Virginia governor essentially anytime he wants: A. Linwood Holton Jr., his father-in-law, served as the state’s chief executive from 1970 to 1974.
It’s a bipartisan - not a partisan - family, Mr. Kaine said.
“You know, he’s been giving me some good advice,” he said. “Of course, anything that emphasizes the need to pull together - you would not be surprised at that in a bipartisan family - he really likes that.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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