First, from editorial, Cavalier Daily:
Nonetheless, the questioning was on the whole sound, and it revealed among other things Kilgore's penchant for evasion. While Kaine certainly ducked a few queries, Kilgore consistently found ways to answer a completely different question than the one he was asked. One example of this was when Kilgore was asked about his contention that Gov. Mark R. Warner had caused the slowdown of transportation projects, a claim that has since been found by every reputable source to be completely untrue. Instead of clarifying or apologizing for this falsehood, Kilgore decided to reply by describing his own transportation initiatives.This was not the only instance of such fancy footwork. Later, at the end of the debate, both candidates were asked whether they would pledge then and there to run no more than 50 percent negative ads for the duration of the campaign. Before Kaine took the pledge, Kilgore hemmed and hawed in such a manner that Sabato had to refreshingly quip, "So that's a no."
In the Daily Progress, Robert Denton, political analyst from Virginia Tech, gave his impression:
Although no one ran away with the debate or committed major blunders, its effect on the undecided may be that ?Kaine probably came out stronger tonight. They were both well prepared. Kilgore probably had more attacks than Kaine. Kaine was probably a little bit more articulate,? Denton said.
The Daily Progress also caught one other little spiteful little quote from Kilgore, when asked about his refusal to keep 51% of his advertising positive:
?I just am not going to allow a moderator or anyone to make political decisions for me.?
Oh, dear me, Jerry!
A Washington Post Editorial focused on Kilgore's continued refusal to take a stance on abortion:
So Mr. Kilgore is left with an incoherent position: On the one hand he opposes abortion, except if a pregnancy threatens a mother's life or in the case of rape or incest -- providing the woman reports the crime to the police within a week. And he has courted pro-life groups that are determined to outlaw abortion. On the other hand he insists he is "not going to do anything to criminalize women" who have abortions, while refusing to take a position on legislation to ban the procedure. It doesn't add up to an honest stance.
Tally: Most newspapers found last night's debate to be a clear win for Kaine. No newspaper identified Kilgore as the winner.
Rock it on to November, Tim!