Phone Blitz To Push Kilgore

Kaine spent an hour shaking hands with fairgoers alongside Gov. Mark R. Warner (D), who chowed down on corn dogs, fried Oreo cookies, french fries and four different samples of homemade pie. The two Democrats passed up an opportunity to ride a mechanical bucking bull.

"This is Tim Kaine, who I hope will be the next governor," Warner said to Carl Henshaw, 78, and his wife, Lynne, 67, who had come to the state fair from Buckingham, Va.

The Henshaws said they are Republicans but think Warner has been successful. Asked whether Warner's endorsement would influence their vote Nov. 8, they said it might.

"I would look at him seriously," Carl Henshaw said of Kaine. "I don't say it would convince me, but I'd look at him seriously."

All three candidates participated in an agricultural forum sponsored by several farm groups.

Kilgore vowed to permanently end the estate tax in Virginia, a position heartily supported by the state's farmers.

"I'm not going to just support some watered-down, weakened version of the estate tax, like my opponent," Kilgore said. "We've got to do away with it now. Death should not be a taxable event."

Kaine also promised to phase out the estate tax and proposed new tax credits for the production of biodiesel fuels. Potts talked mostly about the importance of improving the transportation network for the future of farming.

"I emphasized that transportation had to be their biggest issue, because they have to move their goods and produce," Potts said.