Virginia Governor: Deeds, McDonnell Play Who's Your Favorite President

Which presidents' economic policies have been best for Virginia, the two Republican George Bushes or Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama? Right out of the box, in an hour-long debate moderated by Judy Woodruff of PBS, the two candidates for Virginia governor were catapulted into national politics and asked to judge leaders who may be mixed blessings in their quest for higher office.

Maybe it's because Obama has rebounded this week to a 56 percent approval rating, or maybe it's because George W. Bush is still a tough sell, but Democrat Creigh Deeds took ownership of his presidents Monday night and Republican Bob McDonnell did not mention his by name.

Clinton led the nation from recession to "the largest period of peacetime economic growth in our nation's history," said Deeds, a state senator. He said George W. Bush imposed "a whole series of irresponsible polices that undermined economic growth" and left a mess for Obama to clean up. "He still has a lot of work to do, but he's working as hard as he can to restore economic prosperity," Deeds said of Obama.

McDonnell, a former state legislator and attorney general, said "the Republican presidents" kept taxes low and right-to-work laws strong and invested in education. Then McDonnell took aim at Congress and the Obama agenda. His own leadership as governor, he said, "will not reflect the leadership of the current Congress, which is imposing massive new debt on the citizens and enacting energy taxes and card check and other things like that."

There are only two contests for governor this year, in Virginia and New Jersey, and they are being closely tracked for clues to how voters feel about the direction set by Obama and the Democrats. So far the answer in Virginia appears to be "not that great." Two new polls show McDonnell comfortably ahead -- one by 8 percentage points, the other by 9 percentage points.

The debate allowed both candidates to make their cases to a statewide audience in prime time, but they largely echoed themes and accusations that have been playing out for weeks. And their personal style is well known by now. Deeds projects intensity and still occasionally trips over his tongue. McDonnell projects equanimity and seems relaxed.

The top issue in the race is the state's inability to fund its transportation needs, which has left Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads with traffic so severe it is a threat to economic development. McDonnell has specific financing plans that some analysts say are misleading or unlikely to materialize; Deeds says he's open to a bipartisan solution that could include a tax increase. That led McDonnell to claim in the debate that Deeds had "taken everything off the table except for taxes."

Deeds has also tried to make an issue of McDonnell's 20-year-old master's thesis in which McDonnell, then 34, laid out ways the government should discourage working women, divorce, abortion, homosexuality and contraception. On Monday he said McDonnell had voted against equal pay for women several years ago; as recently as 2005 was a member of the board of regents of Regent University, which had a "blatant" preference for men in hiring; and as attorney general had said it was unconstitutional for Gov. Tim Kaine to sign an executive order banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

McDonnell said he'd been married for 33 years to a working woman, has working daughters, had hired working moms, and as attorney general he hired based on merit alone. He also said equal pay for equal work is federal law.

Democrats had been growing anxious about the negative tenor of Deeds' campaign, with some advising him it was time to focus on making a positive case for himself. A three-day "hope and opportunity tour" and a new TV ad about his education plans suggest that, to some extent, he is heeding that counsel.

In the debate, Deeds hit his positive talking points but also took an aggressive tack at times. For instance, he twice flatly accused McDonnell of lying -- once when McDonnell said Deeds is proposing $1 billion in taxes to finance transportation, and again when McDonnell said Deeds supports a congressional cap-and-trade plan he said would cost families $1,700 a year. "There's no legislation pending anywhere that's going to cost anyone $1,700 a year," Deeds said, and in any case, he said he doesn't support the bill that's passed the House. He said the nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org backed him up.

In his closing statement, which McDonnell could not rebut, Deeds called McDonnell a "smooth talker" who adhered to "a rigid social agenda" as a legislator and has undergone "a pretty serious political makeover" as a candidate.

Even when he was able to respond, McDonnell did not return fire or get riled up. It's called sitting on a lead.