My first reaction upon reading the latest Kilgore campaign attack on Tim Kaine was disgust. Just how stupid do those guys think we voters are? Then, after referring to the Kaine campaign website, I concluded that contempt for the truth — and the voters’ intelligence — may be universal. Here are the facts. You decide for yourself.
Kilgore held a press conference yesterday with former Richmond Mayor and Congressman Tom Bliley and blasted Kaine for his “dismal track record” as mayor. Among the failings the Kilgore campaign pins on Kaine: Deteriorating student-teacher ratios in city schools, rising drop-out rates, low student achievement, a 47.5 percent increase in unemployment, and higher taxes. (See the press release.)
As a campaign gimmick, this may be effective. If the charges are mindlessly repeated in the press in the usual he said/she said format of campaign coverage, and if the voters are as ignorant as the Kilgorites seem to assume they are, the charges just may stick. Here’s the problem: Four of the five of Kilgore’s points are totally bogus.
Tim Kaine was elected as one of seven city council persons. Chosen by his peers as mayor, he was simply a first among equals who chaired city council meetings and fulfilled ceremonial duties. Kaine enjoyed no executive power. Furthermore, the city school board, not Tim Kaine, ran the Richmond city schools. School systems enjoy extraordinary autonomy in Virginia. To blame Kaine for the problems of Richmond city schools — problems that he had no power to influence — is ridiculous. Similarly, to blame Tim Kaine for an uptick in unemployment is nonsensical as well. Unemployment in the city reflects the strength of the national, state and regional economy, which are matters beyond the mayor’s control.
The one legitimate charge is taxes. As mayor, Kaine could influence the city’s budgetary choices and its tax rate. The city’s tax take did increase during his tenure, and he is legitimately vulnerable to criticism on this front. If the Kilgore campaign wants to display some intellectual integrity, that’s what it should focus on. Leave the rest alone.
As contemptible as the Kilgore attacks are, the Kaine campaign invited them by grotesquely inflating Kaine’s record of achievement. Read this passage in Kaine’s campaign biography: “Tim Kaine improved the city’s business climate, cutting taxes such as the property tax and the business license fee. Over 76,000 jobs were created in the metro Richmond area. To enhance public education, he built the city’s first new schools in a generation…” Yadda, yadda, yadda.
Those puffed-up claims are just as irresponsible as Kilgore’s attacks. Yes, Kaine cut the property tax rate, but rising property values drove up the total tax burden. As for claiming credit for 76,000 jobs in “metro Richmond” — including Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover counties — that’s downright laughable. And if Kaine wants to hog credit for building new schools, then he needs to take responsibility for the rest of the Richmond school system.
I really shouldn’t be reading this garbage before breakfast. It ruins my appetite.
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