Ben pershing covers d. C. , maryland, virginia scene for the Washington Post, he joined the post in 2008 as a congressional blogger after a decade at the capitol hill newspaper roll call. Last but not least, aaron gilchrist, coanchor of news 4 today, lived in richmond for 23 years where he began his career, covered four virginia governors. The former chairman of the democrat nation democrat, Terry Mcauliffe and ken cuccinelli. Lets hear a round of applause. Mr. Mcauliffe, by virtue of an earlier coin toss you will go first with your two minute opening statement. Go ahead. Thank you, chuck and thank you to Fairfax Chamber for hosting us tonight and to all virginians watching at home. I would like to recognize my wife dorothy who is with me here tonight. For the last two decades we have been raising our five children here in Fairfax County. The choice in this race is simple, which candidate is going to govern from the mainstream, work with both parties, and focus on those Economic Issues that virginians are concerned about. During this campaign i have proposed Common Sense Solutions on issues of education, transportation, and work force development. Ive also been proud to earn the support of so many prominent republicans, many of whom have never supported a democrat before. The Bipartisan Coalition that we have assembled during this campaign reflects the approach i would take as governor, following in a successful model of mark warner. Just a few weeks ago, my opponent changed his Campaign Staff and his tactics, probably because he was concerned a number of republicans were no longer supporting his campaign. The result has been a sharp increase in the most personal of attacks. They have been called deceitful and false by the press. So i expect more of those kinds of attacks tonight. But what virginians do expect from us is to hear how we are going to bring folks together in richmond. With the department of defense drawing down its overall spending and now with the sequestration, the next governor will face serious economic headwinds. We cannot afford the next four years in richmond to be like the last four in washington. Gridlock driven by the tea party is once again risking a Government Shutdown that would be devastating to the virginia economy. In virginia we have a strong record of working together, democrats and republicans, and with the challenges that lie ahead, we must embrace the tradition of Mainstream Solutions. We need those solutions now more than ever. Thank you. And that is what i look forward to talking with you tonight. Thank you, mr. Mcauliffe. Mr. Cuccinelli, your opening statement. I want to thank the chamber and nbc 4 for hosting us today, chuck and the panel for their participation and terry for being here as well. It is nice to be in the backyard of where i grew up. I am the only candidate in this race with a lifetime fighting for virginians, whether preventing sexual assault, helping the homeless or helping those with Mental Illness, a passion of mine for more than a decade and a half. I also served in State Government more than ten years and i know how it works. I am the only candidate in this race that wont need onthejob training if you elect me your governor this year. In this campaign my opponent has spent a lot of time telling you why you shouldnt vote for me for governor, but not much time telling you why you should vote for him. You may not always agree with me in this race, but youll always know where i stand and why i hold the positions that i do. When it comes to economic competitiveness, job creation, and higher education, i know we can all Work Together to make virginia a better place to live, with lasting results. But it takes a governor who will fight for those issues and not for their own self interest. Where does my fight come from . Well, my italian grandfather didnt have more than a sixth grade education. He was one of the toughest, hardest working folks i have known, whether as a welder or in a scrap yard where he worked for years or bare knuckle boxer during the depression, probably his toughest job of all. He was proud to work to support his family. Today ordinary folks all over virginia like my grandfather want nothing more than to share in the dignity of work, and i have a plan that will create 58,000 new jobs here in virginia, creating jobs, fighting for the middle class, and fighting for a good education for our children are priorities of my campaign and will be for my governorship. I have proposed detailed policy ideas for each and ill begin on day one fighting to put those ideas into action. All right. If you elect me november 5th. You guys were pretty good there, only five seconds over for both of you. I am pleading, we are all pleading with you tonight that that was your talking points and hit us, try to answer our questions. Let me begin. It is going to be a similar question to both of you, mr. Mcauliffe. 20 million spent on tv ads in this race. 75 of them, we did the calculation, have been negative. This is both of you. I want each of you to respond to the stereotype you have been trying to create about the other. Mr. Mcauliffe, the stereotype of you is youre an operator, cheerleader more than legislator or governor, you dont have relevant experience to be governor and a man in a hurry willing to use connections in high places to take shortcuts. Your response. I am a young man who grew up in syracuse, new york. I started my First Business when i was 14 years old because i had to help pay for college. I have been involved in a number of businesses since that time, chairman of a bank by the age of 30, owned thousands of homes. Been involved in a wide variety of different businesses. I want to bring that business approach, that business experience, i think it is important to have someone in the Governors Office that has those business experiences, understands the ups and downs of businesses, understands that risk is inherent in our economy, and is willing to put everything in to make sure we grow and diversify our economy. With sequestration, with the budget cuts we have seen and department of defense with 500 billion, the stimulus is over, the next governors real challenge is how do you grow and diversify our businesses. How do we create new economic activity. Dorothy and i would have love to have our five children stay in virginia, but to stayed in virginia, we need to have the jobs of the 21st century, Cyber Security, nano technology, bio life sciences. Those are what we need to grow the economy. We have had a lot of different ads and there are differences between the two of us. My opponent has spent most of his career in a social, ideological agenda. He has pushed legislation which would outlaw most forms of contraception, make the pill illegal in virginia. Bullied a board of health that would shut down Womens Health centers. Women are 50 of the work force of the United States of america. You cannot grow an economy putting walls around virginia. Mr. Cuccinelli, you have 90 seconds to respond. Thank you. Well, in this race of course weve got our ads on television. I point you to the kinds of ads we have been running. Right now you all can see running the ad about a case that im very proud of, one about thomas hanesworth. He holds the record in virginia spending more time in prison while innocent than anyone in the history of the commonwealth, he is out today on a 64 vote of our court of appeals because i took that case and joined his side and we won 64. 55 is a loss. Thats the kind of story were trying to tell, chuck, in this race. Thats a story i am very proud of. I think there are reasons not to vote for mr. Mcauliffe for governor. We make that case as well. But we have a positive record to look back on in my case. Weve done a great job in the attorney generals office, fighting Health Care Fraud, internet predators, we worked with capital one as we sit here on some justice issues, justice access issues. Those are things near and dear to my heart. Thats where we focused in this race. I am the only candidate thats gotten both of the Major Business endorsements so far in this race from Northern VirginiaTechnology Council tech pack. And just this week from virginia, Small Businesses, nfib endorsed me as well with their 5500 Small Business members. They obviously think that my preparation and my plans for growing the economy here in virginia is best, not just for them, but to make virginia a better place to live and raise a family. Mr. Mcauliffe as you get your 60 seconds to respond here, i want you to deal with this issue. You one time said to the New York Times ive met all of my business contacts through politics, its all interrelated. We looked at it, and a lot of it is political ties. After all of the ethical woes in richmond with the current governor, why shouldnt that give the voters pause that theres going to be ethical questionable deals. I spent a lot of my life volunteering in politics, i am committed, passionate. As i say, i started my First Business at a very young age, was successful in business. I want to bring that business experience. Met an awful lot of folks, but listen, i stand by everything ive done in my life, i am very proud of my accomplishments. As i say, dorothy and i decided to move to virginia about 21 years ago because we knew this was the best place we could raise our family, but theres a difference when theres an attorney general in a scandal. Gave my opponent 18,000 of gifts. Star scientific owe virginia about 1. 7 million. Instead of taking him to court, ken was being taking trips to new york city, got a 50 turkey dinner. We were owed, the taxpayers of virginia were owed that money. Instead of going and collecting what was our money, my opponent was actually taking gifts from this gentleman and he was buying stock and not disclosing it. Were going to get to that. Mr. Cuccinelli, i want to go to a 90 second question to you, second official question, talk about the stereotype painted of you, that youll use your governorship to push a social agenda, abortion, gay rights, climate change, that you would be a governor simply for conservatives and that you will not consider those who are liberals or moderates in your governing. Your response to this stereotype. I think one of the best responses to this is the broad array of support were getting from democrats, independents and bipartisan groups like north Virginia Technology council tech pack, Small Businesses across virginia and National Federation of independent businesses, the farm bureau, the police, were getting a broad array of support across virginia because i have put forward well thought out plans that start with an understanding of how virginia Government Works and that we can move those plans forward because people can look at my record and see that what i campaign on is what i pursue, and as attorney general, right here in Fairfax County, fighting back against overreaching regulations on a bipartisan basis with the fairfax board. We saved Fairfax County taxpayers and virginia taxpayers about 250 million. Look, i believe, i have some basic beliefs that are fundamental to me, but overwhelming proportion of my time as attorney general has been spent moving virginia forward economically and protecting liberty and our constitution. Thats something you can continue to expect from me as your next governor. You know, the comparison here is someone who has told the New York Times, you know, you help me, i help you. Thats politics. Talking about a case where he was an unindicted coconspirator in a teamster moneylaundering case. If terry is elected governor, we have to change the state motto to quid pro quo. Just today in the Washington Post they have an article about how his higher ed policy changed on a dime when he got certain support. Some of them republican. You know, that kind of trading off without thinking through the policies and particularly in an area thats going to make colleges less available to virginians more expensive. We have a bit of an error. You followed the time that was on your table there, but you actually have a little more time. Youll get about 95 seconds, mr. Mcauliffe, to respond. My opponent has been the attorney general, run on jobs and transportation when he gets into office, gets in office, serves with an ideological agenda, Womens Health centers, where he bullied board of health to shut them down, he sponsored legislation that would outlaw most forms of contraception, make the pill illegal. He referred to gay humans as self destructive soulless human beings. When violence of women act was being reauthorized in the United States congress, 47 attorney generals signed a letter, violence against women, not controversial. He is one of three that refused to sign it. It has been a pattern. And as it relates to his attack on gay virginians, when he was attorney general he sent a letter to every college and university saying they could provide no protections against discrimination based upon Sexual Orientation against professors and students. What happened . Northrup drummond was moving, obviously the employees squawked at that. Governor Bob Mcdonnell had to interject himself to stop the attorney general and save that deal, 300 high paying jobs up the street from where we are today. There are consequences to this mean spirited attack on Womens Health, on gay virginians. If were going to build a new economy in virginia, were going to do it by bringing everyone together. Mr. Cuccinelli, as you prepare your 60 second response to mr. Mcauliffe, i was hoping you would also respond to what the republican Lieutenant Governor bill boling said. It is the most ideological ticket the gop put forth and worries it is pushing away mainstream voters. Well, until he stepped out of my race by a lot of measures he is more conservative than i am, so i think that he has some comments based on not being in this race. The northrup grumen charge is false, the soulless comment is offensively false. The kind of personal attacks that terry opened up his remarks with today by saying this has been going on are coming from Terry Mcauliffe. You all are seeing the ads. It is overwhelmingly negative. It is unbelievably false. No one up here, no one up here has done more to protect women, which is a focus of his attacks, than i have, whether it was back when i was an engineering student at uva, and a friend of mine was sexually assaulted, my response was to start a new Organization Still functioning there to protect women at uva, the first of its kind in the country. We run multiple Domestic Violence programs in the attorney generals office, and we started from scratch fighting human trafficking. And weve done a great job of it. Ben pershing has the next question for mr. Mcauliffe. You propose more spending on Education Community college. We are wondering how would you pay for that, especially if the General Assembly doesnt approve Medicaid Expansion. Very important question, and what ive said is responsible budgeting. First of all, when i am governor, were going to look at the efficiency of the government, and work for the Medicaid Expansion. If we cant get that and bring that in, i agree. It is prudent budgeting first to determine how much money you have, then when you have it, you can apply it to your priorities. This is quite a difference. My opponent has proposed a 1. 4 billion tax cut per year. He doesnt say how he with pay for it. The other day, the Lieutenant Governor said ew jackson want to get rid of the Corporate Tax in virginia. Let me tell you what would happen to our budget. Hundreds of millions would come out of education. You could see thousands of teachers being laid off at a time we need to compete on a global basis, as i talked about Cyber Security and all these very important new businesses, were not going to be able to do that because money will come out of education. It is important for me to have the Medicaid Expansion and when i talk about my budget, i say it is important to figure out how much money you have and then you prioritize and put the money in, but his plan, 1. 4 billion a year, doesnt say how he would pay for it, 6 billion over the course of the next four years. Vince callahan, former republican chair of the House AppropriationsCommittee Said it would put a hole in the budget. The idea you can put 6 billion out of the budget, not take the Medicaid Expansion, didnt want the transportation 6 billion. It is like me saying i came here on a unicorn. Mr. Cuccinelli, 90 seconds to respond. It is hard to find inefficiencies in a government you dont understand. Terry mcauliffe doesnt understand how Government Works, doesnt understand the issues of gover