Pubdate: Wed, 07 Sep 2005
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2005 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Author: Jeff E. Schapiro
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

KAINE ACCUSES KILGORE OF BEING SOFT ON 'METH'

Responding To The Ad, Republican Faults Foe's Record Against Drug

Timothy M. Kaine, the Democratic nominee for governor, yesterday rolled out 
a radio commercial pelting Jerry W. Kilgore with his own words for opposing 
the state's latest crackdown on a highly addictive drug sweeping the 
Republican's home region.

The advertisement -- on stations in far Southwest Virginia criticizes the 
former attorney general for resisting mandatory controls on the public's 
access to cold and allergy medicine used to manufacture methampethamine. 
The spot depicts Kilgore, who prefers voluntary restrictions, as captive to 
big donors in the drug industry.

The Kilgore campaign countered that the lieutenant governor is using the 
one-minute attack ad to conceal a record that -- unlike Kilgore's -- does 
not include proposals to curb methamphetamine, commonly known as "meth."

"If Tim Kaine did make an ad detailing his record on meth, it would be 58 
seconds of silence, with a two-second disclaimer," said J. Tucker Martin, 
Kilgore's deputy press secretary.

Kilgore, meantime, is reusing on radio stations across the state two 
commercials from the spring. One is a biographical spot and the other 
attacks Kaine for depicting himself as a moderate.

The campaign hinted that fresh ads critical of Kaine would be running soon.

Again taking the fight to Kilgore's home turf, Kaine is gambling that he 
can peel away votes in the Republican-leaning countryside with tough 
advertising challenging Kilgore's presumed advantage on law and order.

Kilgore views the Kaine ad otherwise. Martin said the new commercial 
indicates Kaine, who also is extending his latest television ad buy to 
Richmond and Southwest Virginia, recognizes Kilgore is seen as stronger on 
crime and "that's why he attacks it."

The Kaine ad again features Sheriff Tommy Whitt of Montgomery County 
deriding Kilgore on the meth crisis in rural Virginia. But it also includes 
audio of Kilgore knocking down an executive order last week by Gov. Mark R. 
Warner in response to the problem.

"You never want to require that individuals participate in certain 
programs," Kilgore says of Warner's directive.

Warner, a Democrat, decreed that some cold and allergy remedies be moved 
off retailers' shelves and placed behind the counter. Also, his order 
requires proper identification to purchase about a dozen products, imposes 
limits on the amount purchased and requires retailers to record purchases.

Kilgore, who won legislation increasing penalties for the manufacture and 
possession of meth, favors a voluntary effort by police and retailers to 
thwart the acquisition of over-the-counter drugs and other supplies used to 
make meth.

Kilgore, a native of Scott County, said the mandatory steps are a hardship 
for small retailers, the so-called mom-and-pop stores.

Senior Republicans lawmakers last week urged emergency action on meth, 
naming a panel of business officials, pharmacists, police and legislators 
to fashion proposals for the 2006 General Assembly.

Whitt, a drawling country sheriff who appeared in a Kaine radio commercial 
in June, said in the ad that Kilgore opposes the Warner-initiated measures 
because he has "sided with his big contributors in the pharmaceutical 
industry."

Whitt continued, "If Jerry Kilgore can't stand up to his campaign 
contributors to fight dangerous drugs, he's not strong enough to be 
governor of this great commonwealth of Virginia."

Drug-makers and pharmacists have plowed more than $500,000 into the 
governor's race, with Kilgore receiving the bulk of donations, according to 
the Virginia Public Access Project, which monitors campaign fundraising and 
spending.

Kilgore has collected $512,925 from such sources, compared with $17,835 for 
Kaine. Both candidates' donors include manufacturers of products likely 
covered by the Warner order.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman