Governor's race pits Appalachian accent against bland one

[EC]

Governor's race pits Appalachian accent against bland one

May 10, 2005

BY BOB LEWIS

<snip>
Quick with a quip, the smooth-talking Democrat, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine, is trying to goad his opponent into debates -- the more and the sooner, the better.

But the Republican, former state Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, says Kaine is making fun of his coal-country twang and trying to make him look like a rube, a complaint that could get rural Virginians fired up.
<snip>
Whether the accent slur is real (as Kilgore contends) or contrived (as Kaine insists), the culture clash has consumed pundits, bloggers and the two campaigns.

<snip>

Kilgore's campaign says a radio ad and a Web site by Kaine imply to urban and suburban voters that Kilgore is a hick who is too dumb to govern.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-accent10.html


Now that Kilgore has framed this Kaine is going to have a heck of a time convincing people otherwise. Anyway I went to his website just to see if he was making fun of Kilgore's twang (since I know it wouldn't be in Kaine's interest and can't believe he'd even hint at it) and guess what? I don't even see Kilgore's name mentioned, except to welcome him to the race on the media page, so how is he saying he's a hick?

http://www.kaine2005.org/

Maybe it's time we start playing childish games like this, I don't know what to say, since people DO fall for this shit, how do we keep being adult like and not resort to these tactics, and win?

[LisaM]

1. What kind of biased reporting is that, number one

Trying to "goad" his opponent into debates? I'm tired of these candidates who run from debates. Anyone running for office should be willing to debate early and often.