Kilgore tries to portray Tim Kaine as dishonest on transportation, but the only way Jerry can do this is by lying himself.Case in point: Jerry Kilgore just came out with a television advertisement on transportation policy that asserts that the Richmond Times Dispatch accuses Tim Kaine of "playing fast and loose" with the truth.
Jerry's problem is, the only person playing fast and loose with the truth is...Jerry Kilgore. I suppose his staff never considered when they made these ads that we here at Raising Kaine would actually check their source. But, if you go to the article they use as "proof", a couple of things become quickly clear:
The author of the article never discussed transportation financing
This article concerned a superbly illogical argument that body language was a reason to discredit Kaine's stance on capital punishment. That's hardly a reason to question Kaine's stance--a point that even the author, Jeff Shapiro, concedes:
"...earlier this month, a survey by The Washington Post indicated that while a majority of voters back capital punishment, they also believe 2-to-1 -- that Kaine would enforce it."
Hypothetical statements appear to be a real problem for the Kilgore camp...Here's the quote in its entirety:"And then there is Kaine's wink. Kaine flashed it at Kilgore in the early debates, as if to signal that, sure, he can play fast and loose with the issues."
This is not an assertion; it's merely hypothetical conjecture about body movement. Moreover, the sentence reads that Kaine winked to signal that KILGORE can play fast and loose with the issues (hmm, maybe Kaine will use the same pull quote for Kilgore)! Beyond that, who cares about meaningless body movements? It's not as if Kilgore doesn't have some weirdly ominous body tics of his own (like only talking from only one side of his mouth).
Moreover, Shapiro's article is clearly identified as an opinion piece--not as reporting or even as an official editorial of the Richmond Times Dispatch. In fact, the article also reflects internal inaccuracies about Kaine's record, although oddly, Kilgore never referenced these errors. Ultimately, anyone can publish an op-ed, so long as it meets a newspaper's space and content requirements. Do you think Kaine would ever cite a letter to the editor as proof that a newspaper took sides? It is just plain dishonest for Jerry's ad to represent words so far out of context and content as any verdict on Kaine's truthfulness.
Just who is lying here?
1. Kilgore lied when he misquoted Jeff Shapiro's article as an assertion on Kaine's truthfulness.
2. Kilgore misconstrued Shapiro's statement further when applying it out of context to transportation financing.
3. All of this established a bogus platform for misrepresenting Kilgore's own transportation financing plans.
Maybe we can attribute this to "the former attorney general's timid presence and programmed style" (Shapiro, Jeff; Richmond Times Dispatch op-ed; 9/25/05)? Or maybe that Kilgore has become confused about transporation financing since the same author in Richmond Times Dispatch asked "Is Republican Jerry Kilgore running for governor or Lord High Executioner?" (Shapiro, Jeff; Richmond Times Dispatch blog; 10/13/05).
...Or maybe it's because Jerry Kilgore can only project his own dishonesty on others, even if that means lying to do so.
Who can possibly suggest electing a man as governor who consistently speaks fraudulently not only about his opposition, but also about his own positions and record, a man like Jerry Kilgore who literally only speaks from one side of his mouth?
?Or will Virginia vote for Tim Kaine, whose integrity shows him as the candidate who puts honesty above dishonestly exploiting the fears of the people?