WP: Katrina Injected Into Va. Gubernatorial Race

Katrina Injected Into Va. Race
Kaine Emphasizes Management Skills
By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 2, 2005; Page C07


RICHMOND -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Timothy M. Kaine is asking voters to think about the sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina as they evaluate him and his opponents in the Nov. 8 election on the most mundane of political topics: their management skills.

Gingerly at first, and lately with more gusto, Kaine is making the hurricane's aftermath an issue in the final weeks of the 2005 campaign. In speeches and advertisements, Kaine is betting that voters are ready to care more about how a governor actually governs.

"We have all watched on television the last month or so, and we've all seen the consequences of poor management," Kaine said in a speech to donors last week. "We've all seen the difference that management can make. It's not just about boring details. Management can be life or death."

Kaine touts his experience as "a mayor, running a city," and his job as second-in-command to a governor widely praised for his businesslike management.

Republican Jerry W. Kilgore, Kaine's principal opponent, replies that he, as secretary of public safety and attorney general, has actually had experience running a state response to natural disasters....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/01/AR2005100101249.html

If you read the article, you'll see that nowhere does the Washington Post's "Staff Writer" bother to examine the purported credentials of either candidate, or even to verify their claims. It's just a meaningless "he said, she said" article, with a pundit or two thrown in for good measure.

They should call Michael D. Shear their "Staff Stenographer."