If Tim Kaine channeled John Edwards' "Two Americas" speech, this is what he might sound like:"Under Jerry Kilgore's plan for our state, there would be two Virginias: One Virginia that would do the work, another Virginia that would reap the reward. One Virginia that would pay the taxes, another Virginia that would get the tax breaks. One Virginia that would do anything to leave its children a better life, another Virginia that never would have to do a thing because its children are already set for life.
"One Virginia -- middle-class Virginia - whose needs the Republicans in Richmond have long forgotten. Another Virginia - special-interest and big-money Virginia - whose every wish would be Jerry Kilgore's command. One Virginia that struggles to get by, another Virginia that can buy anything it wants, even the Governor of our state.
"I've been fighting this fight my whole life. As a Christian missionary in Honduras, teaching welding, academics and religion to poor children, I learned that one idealistic young person can make a difference. I saw firsthand what my blue-collar, hard-working father had taught me, that a good education is the key to getting a good job and vital to ensuring that everyone can live up to their God-given potential in life.
"As a civil rights lawyer, I fought discrimination, winning the largest fair housing case in American history. For my work, I received awards from the ?National Fair Housing Alliance? and the group, 'Lawyers for Public Justice.'
"As Mayor of Richmond, I built the city?s first new schools in a generation, without raising taxes. I helped cut the city's homicide rate in half through Project Exile, winning support both from gun safety organizations as well as the NRA.
"I believe the backbone of Virginia's economy is the hard work, determination, and ingenuity of its regular citizens, not its powerful, well-connected insiders. I believe the way to grow Virginia's economy is to strengthen the middle and working classes, not add to their burdens. I believe the way our state can prosper is by giving all its citizens a chance, not only those like me who've already succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.
"I believe the way to create new wealth is by rewarding hard work and personal responsibility, not by coddling the privileged and the powerful, the special interests and big corporations that care only about themselves.
"For every man and woman who is worried about paying their bills; for every child who needs high quality health care and education for the 21st century; and for every Virginian who waits for the 1st and the 15th of every month -- together we will build a better future. We will replace the politics of cynicism, division, greed and rage with a new politics of optimism, unity, idealism and hope."
"We are all worried about what right-wing Republicans like Jerry Kilgore would do to our state, to our values, and to our way of life. But we all know in our hearts that worry won't change things; only our actions will. Democrats are the party of optimism and action, and I am running for Governor in order to keep that tradition alive, and to build on the great successes we have achieved the past four years under the leadership of my friend, Mark Warner.
"I am running for governor because I believe in a Virginia where every man, woman, and child can reach his or her God-given potential. Because I believe in a Virginia where the family you're born into and the color of your skin should never control your destiny. And because I still believe in a Virginia where the son of a iron welder can beat the son of politicians to lead our state in 2005 and beyond!
"Thank you, and God bless Virginia!"