Collegiate Times

Former governors and candidates for the U.S. Senate, Mark Warner and Jim Gilmore, competed in their third debate at the Taubman Museum of Art in downtown Roanoke on Friday night.

WSLS, the NBC affiliate from Roanoke, sponsored the event with one of its regular anchors, Jay Warren, as the moderator. A panel of three well-known journalists presented questions to both candidates throughout the hour. Julie Carey, an anchor from WRCV from Washington, D.C.;; Robert Denton, Jr., a political analyst for WSLS and Virginia Tech professor for the communication department and Tyler Whitley, a long-time political reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch served as the panelists.

All the questions were developed by Warren, one of the three panelists, or viewers who wrote in questions before the debate. Neither candidate had any previous knowledge of the topics that would be addressed.

In the candidates' opening statements, Gilmore referenced the $700 billion bailout plan that Bush signed earlier on Friday.

"I'm so distressed by this bailout," Gilmore said. "I oppose this bailout. Mark Warner supports that bailout." Gilmore repeatedly talked about the bailout plan throughout the night.

"I not only would have voted against this bill, I'm telling you it is wrong," Gilmore said.

Although he admitted to the existence of economic problems, he said that this was the wrong way to handle the situation.

Warner addressed Gilmore's comments by attacking his perceived lack of urgency.

"I think it would be great to say that we can avoid making a decision," Warner said.

"We would not have pushed anything off," Gilmore argued.

The debate then moved into a discussion on the war in Iraq. Warner said he feels that it's appropriate to talk with the Iranians, and he stressed that America should stand in firm support of Israel.

The candidates also discussed an employee-free choice bill that addresses whether employees should have the choice to be members of their respective unions. After Warner voiced his opinions of this, Gilmore charged him with misleading viewers.

"Mark Warner hasn't been honest with the people who are watching this tonight," Gilmore said. "Tonight he gave you a lot of Washington double-talk."

A few times throughout the evening, Warner referred to the state of the economy when he entered office as governor. He said that Gilmore had left his administration with a $6 billion budget deficit.

"There was never a budget shortfall in Va.," Gilmore said. "The law doesn't permit it. That is misleading."

The former governors proceeded to compare the state of Va.'s economy during their respective terms. Warner said he is proud of the cuts in spending that occurred while he was in office and the bipartisan support that he received for many policies. He listed the rankings that Va. obtained while he was governor, including the best governed state in the nation and the best opportunity for education in the country.

Gilmore said he was proud of cutting taxes (specifically the car tax), balancing the budget, and being strong on education initiatives, such as giving lottery money to education and hiring 4,000 new teachers for Va.'s schools.

Before their closing remarks, the candidates ended the debate by discussing their slightly differing views on energy issues and their plans for eliminating earmarks if elected.