What Tim Kaine and his supporters do not get about the death penalty debate

Recently, Jerry Kilgore has hit Tim Kaine's campaign hard with ads concerning his active work against the death penalty. Democrats have not taken to kindly to it; Tim Kaine has been adamant that his faith is dictating his viewpoint. Yet, he says that he will uphold the law as governor (that is really reassuring, I usually expect my governors will not uphold the law). Many are arguing that this criticism shows Jerry Kilgore to be anti-Christian.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

As a Christian, I have always held my faith to be central to my life; everything I do and believe politically, socially, and in other areas of my life hold to my faith. My decisions follow my faith, and if I disagree with something because of my faith, I will try to see it changed. While this might seem to be consistent for Tim Kaine through 2004, 2005 has shown an entirely different side.

This issue does not come down to the death penalty. Though I am for the death penalty, I do not have such a strong view on it to make it a primary voting issue. The issue is that Tim Kaine is not acting like the Christian he portrays himself to be. For 99% of his life, Tim Kaine was against the death penalty; for the last year, he just decides to elude questions by waffling on the topic and hiding behind his "faith". This is not the action of a Christian, at least, not any Christians I know. A man of faith stands by his convictions no matter what. I, and many others, have held these criticisms of Tim Kaine for a long time now, just as Kaine has eluded answering the question for many months. Now, the Kilgore campaign is looking at it as well, and with Tim Kaine's campaign running desperate, he lies about Jerry Kilgore.

Chad reflects on this as well, and has this to say.

As a person of faith, that offends me. I want people of faith serving in government. But I don't think candidates should hide behind that faith in order to avoid answering difficult questions. Tell us why your faith informs your positions; I want to hear that. But don't accuse your opponent of attacking your faith because he attacks your extreme positions.

If Tim Kaine continues to claim that Jerry Kilgore is attacking his faith, he has lost all grasp on reality and he will be in full desperation mode. Let's be clear: Jerry Kilgore has never once come remotely close to attacking Kaine's religion, and Tim Kaine knows it. When Kaine says otherwise, he is lying through his teeth to Virginia voters because he sees the election slipping away from him.

Some bloggers on the left believe that Jerry Kilgore has started to lie about Tim Kaine, and some even suggest that lying about Jerry Kilgore (talk about hypocrisy and nasty politics) is their way to even the playing field. Too late.