No Game Changer in Final Va. Gov. Debate

There was plenty of disagreement over transportation proposals, health care reform, women's issues and a shrinking state budget but no game-changing instant in the final gubernatorial debate Tuesday night.

With three polls in the past two weeks showing Republican Bob McDonnell with a lead of 8 to 9 percentage points, Democrat Creigh Deeds entered the televised debate looking for a breakout moment two weeks before election day.

A freeform format allowed more rhetorical sparring than the first three debates, but neither hobbled the other, and neither committed a fatal blunder.

The newest element was the national debate on health care, which came to the forefront briefly when Deeds said he would be willing to opt Virginia out of a federal program if it contains a public option.

"Public option isn't required in my view," Deeds said, treading against the current of progressive activists within his own party and labor unions, which have been major Deeds donors.

"I would certainly consider opting out if that were available in Virginia," he said.

The public option is also a core principle behind the health reform proposals of President Barack Obama, who will campaign with Deeds next week in Virginia.

Later, Deeds said his remarks didn't signal his opposition to the public option as much as his doubt about its effectiveness.

"I'm not convinced that the public option is the only way we can reduce costs," he told a crowd of reporters. "It may be one way, but it may not be the best way."

McDonnell flatly opposes the Democratic health care reforms, saying he would reject them outright, whether the contain a public option or not.

The debate opened with one of the campaign's dominant issues: funding improvements to Virginia's crumbling highway system.

Deeds again offered only general concepts, saying he would sign a bill raising taxes on items that "had a nexus to transportation." Laying out details, Deeds said, could put a solution out of reach.

"People are sick and tired of politicians who talk politically about this issue. We've got to talk honestly, and we've got to solve the problem," Deeds said.

But Deeds and debate panelists also raised alarming concerns about McDonnell's detailed plan, noting that portions of it are not permitted under federal law, many of the revenue assumptions are questionable and some of the ideas have been repeatedly rejected by Republican General Assemblies.

The issue later turned to the graduate thesis McDonnell wrote in 1989 at age 34. It was a conservative manifesto that called working women a detriment to society and was critical of gays and unmarried couples who live together.

When asked why his campaign had dwelled on the paper since The Washington Post disclosed it in late August, Deeds said it's relevant.

"It explains why he has singularly focused on a social agenda during his years in office," Deeds said.

But McDonnell said Deeds seized on the paper because he had nothing else to offer, then played on voter angst about proposals by President Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress.

"He's tied in with his Washington allies on cap and trade and card check and unfunded mandates," McDonnell said, noting a controversial energy bill and one that would make it easier for unions to organize.

Later, McDonnell avoided answering one question about what point in a pregnancy abortion should be legal. He talked instead about adoption programs.

But when asked again, he addressed the issue in legal terms. "The law is very clear on when it should be allowed."

Finally, pressed for his personal view, he discussed his Roman Catholic upbringing.

"I was raised in a middle-class Catholic family in northern Virginia. My parents taught me about respecting innocent human life, about protecting the family, and those are my personal views," McDonnell said.

The debate was an important moment for both campaigns, falling precisely two weeks before election day.

Republicans, routed at every level in elections last fall, are desperate to reassert themselves in a state they dominated for most of the 1990s. Deeds entered the debate looking to energize Democrats.

Twice during the debate, he accused McDonnell of undergoing "an election year conversion" on numerous issues and is now willing to say anything to get elected. He cited McDonnell's votes to cut the governor's opportunity fund under Democratic governors, but proposing a $10 million boost to the fund now. Deeds said McDonnell went from demeaning career women in the thesis and supporting a nonbinding resolution against equal pay for women to supporting women in key roles in the workplace now.

Big names are coming to Virginia to help shore Democratic support up for Deeds. He campaigned last week with former Vice President Al Gore, a hero to environmentalists. On Monday he rallied with former President Bill Clinton and, just as importantly, the Democratic rival he vanquished in the June primary, Terry R. McAuliffe. And Obama visits on Oct. 27.