Democratic gubernatorial candidate and current Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine offered a challenge to participate in a series of monthly debates to his opponent, Republican and former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, during a visit to Politics Prof. Larry J. Sabato's class yesterday.
Kaine proposed a "Trust the People" tour, which would take place once per month leading up to the gubernatorial elections in November in each region of Virginia. Kaine said any gubernatorial candidate should be able to "look the voters in the eye" and answer any questions they may have.
Kaine outlined his campaign platform, which centers on homeowners' tax relief, education funding, transportation and economic development.
Kaine also pointed out that his role model and mentor was his father-in-law and former Republican Governor Linwood Holton, a connection that he hopes will help him bridge partisan lines in policy making.
Kaine spent the most of the time fielding students' questions after addressing the four points of his campaign platform and speaking briefly to the class about what lead him to choose a life of public service.
"He tackled a lot of key issues that students were interested in hearing about," Virginia Law Democrats President Jake Olcott said.
During the question and answer session, Kaine responded to questions about his proposed approach to educational reform and funding, an approach that would focus less on demanding a minimum level of accomplishment from K-12 public schools -- embodied by the Virginia Standards of Learning tests -- and shifting toward rewarding achievement in schools, such as increasing enrollment in Advanced Placement classes.
"We ought to set meaningful goals to incentivize excellence," he said.
Kaine also expressed the need to raise the salaries of Virginia's teachers.
"I think it's been a mark of embarrassment that a state with a high capital income pays teachers [a salary that is] below the national average," he said.
Kaine briefly addressed his stance on abortion when questioned by a student, saying while he personally disagrees with it -- Kaine is a devout Catholic -- he would uphold the currently standing Virginia and national laws concerning abortion.
Following his address to the class, Kaine attended a campaign-kickoff rally put on by the University Democrats and the Virginia Law Democrats.
"It says a lot about his message of improving education by visiting U.Va. and doing two events," University Democrats President David Wasserman said.
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