Politico - Virginia Elections 2013: Candidates Speak on Social Issues

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By James Hohmann

All three candidates for Virginia governor highlighted their disagreements on abortion during a forum here Saturday.

Republican Ken Cuccinelli complained during the hour-long event sponsored by a local radio station that ads targeting his views on abortion and contraception are full of lies. He said he would not stop Medicaid funding for abortion in the cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at stake.

And he said he has no plans to push an anti-abortion agenda if elected in the Nov. 5 off-year election.

"I don't have particular proposals in mind for this area, but I am pro-life," he said. "I love children, and I believe we ought to have a governor who loves our children. … And that's at every stage."

Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who has opened up a lead in the high single digits largely because of a major gender gap, pushed back hard.

"I think I speak for all three of us up here: we all love children," he said.
He pivoted to say that the real debate is about which of the candidates "trusts" women. He highlighted his opposition to the legislation that would have mandated women get ultrasounds before they get abortions and so-called personhood legislation, which he said could outlaw common forms of birth control. And he accused Cuccinelli, without naming him, of trying to shut down women's health clinics which -- in addition to abortions -- also offer cancer screenings.

"I don't believe a bunch of politicians in Richmond should be telling women what to do," McAuliffe said.

Robert Sarvis, the Libertarian candidate breaking into double digits in some polls who Republicans worry could be a spoiler, said the state should not set abortion policy.

"Abortion is a difficult issue. … I find it to be a politically intractable problem," he said. "We disagree at the metaphysical level. … Neither side understands or pretends to understand the other side. It's just demonization."

"Because we are in such disagreement, it's not an appropriate role to use state coercive power to settle the matter," he added. "So, as governor, I would not seek to change the law."

The candidates were expressly forbidden from directly engaging with or attacking one other at the event in an auditorium at the War Memorial here, which drew about 125 people.

Each of the three candidates got 90 seconds to respond to the same nine questions.
Cuccinelli would love to have turned the event into a debate and question McAuliffe directly, but the Democrat's team has worked all year to limit their boss's direct exchanges with his opponent and they said the ground rules had been agreed to last month.

So McAuliffe mostly stared ahead expressionless as Cuccinelli talked, seemingly trying to avoid eye contact. None of the men really smiled. McAuliffe cupped his hands while Cuccinelli took notes on a small pad and read his opening and closing statements from a binder.

Cuccinelli's most memorable line during the final debate of the race at Virginia Tech on Thursday night was that his opponent is full of platitudes but has not fleshed out specifically how he will pay for his many promises. He compared McAuliffe to someone who buys a dog without thinking through how they will care for him.

"All puppy, no plans," Cuccinelli said.

McAuliffe presented himself as a bipartisan problem solver, promising to include Republicans in his cabinet. And he referenced the debate attack during the forum on Saturday.

"I'm as lovable as a little puppy," he joked.

Cuccinelli noted that over half his campaign commercials have been positive.
"I'm the only candidate who can say that," he said.

Meanwhile, as both tried to follow the spirit of the rules and avoid going too negative on stage, their campaigns blasted a stream of blistering email attacks.

The Republican attorney general has become increasingly accessible to the press as he's trailed in the polls and the election has approached. While the play-it-safe McAuliffe left through a side door after the forum, Cuccinelli invited reporters into a green room for a leisurely 15-minute conversation.

He was clearly frustrated by what he called the "almost sterile" nature of the forum.
"It's hard when they want to keep it a little mushy," he said.

Cuccinelli chalked up McAuliffe's polling lead to his own inability to stay competitive in the air war.

Cuccinelli believes the federal government shutdown prevented more voters from tuning into the race during the first two weeks of October, and he expressed pleasure that the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act web site is now in the headlines when the undecided make up their minds. He said it is another reason not to expand Medicaid in Virginia, as McAuliffe proposes.

"This [race] is at least in part a referendum on Obamacare," he said.

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