2008 VA Senate Debate between Jim Gilmore and Mark Warner: on Principles & Values


Jim Gilmore: Will be conservative voice in Democratic-controlled Congress

Gilmore staked out strong conservative positions & Warner sought to embrace the center, including supporting gun rights in the District.

They agreed that voters have a clear choice when it comes to personality and leadership styles. Gilmore said he would be a conservative voice in the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Warner argued that he has the experience to end years of partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill and that Virginia voters are ready to embrace his philosophy of seeking common ground.

Source: 2008 VA Senate debate reported in Washington Post Sep 19, 2008

Mark Warner: End partisan gridlock; embrace common ground

Gilmore staked out strong conservative positions & Warner sought to embrace the center, including supporting gun rights in the District.

They agreed that voters have a clear choice when it comes to personality and leadership styles. Gilmore said he would be a conservative voice in the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Warner argued that he has the experience to end years of partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill and that Virginia voters are ready to embrace his philosophy of seeking common ground.

Source: 2008 VA Senate debate reported in Washington Post Sep 19, 2008

Jim Gilmore: Warner is ducking debates; doesn’t want his positions known

Gilmore said Warner is ducking a statewide televised debate and accused him of demeaning home-schoolers as well as gun-rights and antiabortion activists in a 1994 speech. Gilmore seized on Warner’s decision not to attend a League of Women Voters-sponsore debate that would have been aired statewide. “He doesn’t want his positions known to the people of Virginia,” Gilmore said at a parade. “He covers up his positions on the issues because if he runs on his positions, he loses. In fact, he is not electable.
Source: 2008 VA Senate debate reported in Washington Post Sep 2, 2008

Mark Warner: Replace name-calling with bipartisan management

Is it all about partisan name calling and back and forth? Virginians want politicians who will bring people together and focus on critical issues and get results. We’ll probably hear more name calling--but name calling doesn’t get results.

Look at how we approached the budget when we were both governor. Jim Gilmore promised to end the car tax. But it ended up costing three times more than what he said. He used budget gimmicks, tried to hide the problem, and drove Virginia into the fiscal ditch. When I inherited the problem, which grew to a $6 billion shortfall, I leveled with the people, made the hard cuts, reformed state governments, and brought republicans and democrats together, to bring about bipartisan budge and tax reform.

Virginia became the best managed state in the nation. So if you want a senator who will work on budget and the economy and has a proven track record of results, I’d ask you to hire me and bring our country back on the right path.

Source: 2008 VA Senate Debate between Jim Gilmore and Mark Warner Jul 19, 2008

  • The above quotations are from 2008 VA Senate Debate between Jim Gilmore and Mark Warner.
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Candidates and political leaders on Principles & Values:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 02, 2018