My coverage is here, from the other side of the isle, obviously:
http://hrconservative.blogspot.com/2006/07/thelma-drake-phil-kellam-town-hall.html

I disagree with your characterization of Kellam's position on the war.  First, in the first debate, he didn't say "stay the course" (i.e., make no changes).  He said he didn't agree with a timeline. (link)

Second, demanding accountability and answers for an ongoing war isn't "going left".

However, today, he demanded to know how much more money would be spent, how many more years we would be there, and when exactly the troops will come home (sounds like he is asking for a timeline. Nancy Pelosi, anyone?).

But here is what he actually said:

"We are in a mess. They led us there. We put our trust in our president," Kellam said. "Now we need to ask tough questions, something Thelma hasn't asked. We need to face the truth. And we're not getting that from this administration. We're not getting that from this Congress."

Kellam said American voters deserved to know how much longer U.S troops would remain in Iraq and how much money that would cost as the federal deficit climbed to record levels.

He isn't demanding a firm timeline be set.  He wants accountability and answers.  Wanting more accountability isn't "going left" - though I'm sure that would make a convenient bogeyman for Drake.

Sounds like you mischaracterized his point on this.

When he says how long, he is demanding a timeline in my opinion. He echoes liberals like Nancy Pelosi. Now, I know that will cheer his supporters, but he won't appeal to moderates with that kind of talk.

The reason is Bush does have a plan, but he is not going to make it public. Then the terrorists would just wait until that date. Also, the Bush secret plan probably has benchmarks that they would LIKE to happen by that date, but if they do not happen, then the date has to be moved back. The administration is going to make sure Iraqis can defend themselves before they go.

This war has to be fought this way. Phil Kellam is asking for a firm date. That is a timeline in my opinion. What Dems don't understand is that the military does have a timeline, but they is not going to make it public, as much as the media would love them too. That would be military suicide.

Kellam did a much better job of defining his stands on some of the issues than he did in the last debate, but he still has a way to go.

He did very well in front of a hostile crowd.  The Virginian-Pilot article played up the crowd reactions without mentioning that the event was hosted by the Virginia Beach Taxpayers Alliance, an extreme right-wing anti-tax group.  That’s Thelma Drakes constituency.  She even endorsed their radical proposal to replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax, a plan which would shift the tax burden from the rich onto the middle class and poor.

The article states that “the candidates still agree on most of the major national and international issues,” but there were other significant differences that the article didn’t mention.  Rep. Drake supported President Bush’s proposal to privatize Social Security, which would drain the trust fund.  Rep. Drake supported school vouchers, which would divert money from public schools to unaccountable and discriminatory religious schools.  Kellam opposed these radical proposals.

Kellam didn't have an answer on the topic of global warming.  Below is a primer:

There is a broad consensus among the scientific community that global warming is real, that it is primarily caused by human activity, and that it is reversible if we act quickly and responsibly.  This conclusion is supported by:
·The UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) composed of 2,500 experts.
·The joint National Academies of Sciences of 11 countries.
·U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
·American Geophysical Union.
·American Meteorological Society.
·American Association for the Advancement of Science.
·The journal Science, which surveyed 928 papers on climate change that were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and found that "none of the papers disagreed with the consensus position."
He mentioned Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth."  I would highly recommend that he go see it.

disagreeing on Drake on energy, accountability on the war, stems cells, and Social Security -- those are some major differences.

They just read the press releases that are sent out and never look for themselves - or listen.

Thanks for the mention, though. The Pilot apparently doesn't get the point of targeted mail. Thelma, in the debate, claimed it was the mailhouse that sent the mail out. That is BS - the mailhouse uses the database provided and doesn't pick the recipients.

Corrected - thanks!

Sounds like we need to educate the Pilot on that point.

Yes, the Pilot newbie reporters are constantly misspelling my name. (Seems the Pilot always has newbie porters, BTW)