Voters "Want to Know What a Person's Values Are and What Motivates and Animates Their Life" - Candidates for Governor in Virginia Take their Faith Out on the Campaign Trail

Christina Bellantoni / Teresa Neumann reporting : Mar 25, 2005
Washington Times

Republican and former state Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore, and Lt. Governor Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat , are both gubernatorial candidates for the state of Virgnia, and both hit the campaign trail this week fearlessly extolling their religious beliefs.

According to an article in the Washington Times, for Mr. Kilgore, a Baptist, and Mr. Kaine, a Catholic, "their belief in God is a cornerstone of their lives and has played a prominent role throughout their careers."

Says Mr. Kilgore: "As a young boy growing up in a small town, [my parents] instilled in me the values of hard work, honesty and a deep and abiding faith in God. I would attend services at our small church nestled among our majestic mountains -- overshadowed only by the importance of our faith and the size of our dreams."

Mr. Kaine brings up the time he spent building medical clinics and schools and teaching poor teenagers carpentry skills in Honduras when he was 22, according to the same report. "I was a young guy searching for a direction in life," said Mr. Kaine. "The experience taught me a life in service is a fulfilled life."

One Virginia expert says it's "politically smart for candidates to discuss faith and values, given the results of last year's presidential election. Virginians want to know where a person's values are and what motivates and animates their life," he said.