Taxes Take Center Stage

Allen Claims That Foe in Senate Race Wants Increases; Webb Counters That the Charge Is a Misrepresentation

RICHMOND, Oct. 10 -- Taxes have moved to the forefront of Virginia's Senate race, with Republican Sen. George Allen accusing Democrat James Webb of plotting to raise taxes on millions of Virginians.

Allen made the allegations at the candidates' final debate Monday and is repeating them in a statewide television commercial. But the accusations are based almost entirely on Webb's support from national Democratic leaders and on two vague statements by Webb questioning whether Congress should make federal tax cuts permanent.

Webb, who has never run for public office or cast a vote on taxes, has angrily denied the charge and on Tuesday began airing a commercial defending his views. The Democrat's ad also examines Allen's voting history to accuse him of raising taxes on retirement savings, increasing the cost of tuition and giving tax breaks to oil companies. Webb also told reporters which tax cuts he would keep and what tax loopholes he would consider closing.

"This is one more chapter in this ongoing saga about taxes in Virginia now," said Virginia Commonwealth University professor Robert D. Holsworth. "What the senator is doing is to paint Webb as a knee-jerk, liberal tax-and-spender. What Webb wants to suggest is that his position is far more nuanced."

Taxes have been at the heart of political struggles in Virginia since 2000. The issue has divided the state's Republican Party as its members struggle to finance government operations and road-building. And it has dominated most of the statewide elections.

But it has not always been successful for the state's Republicans. Former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore (R) opened his first gubernatorial debate with Democrat Timothy M. Kaine last year by warning voters, "You can take to the bank what he's going to do: He's going to raise your taxes." Kilgore lost.

In the current campaign, Allen is hoping to do better, putting Webb on the defensive with an ad that says Webb will "bring back the death tax, the marriage penalty tax and cut the child tax credit from $1,000 to $500."

Those charges are based on comments Webb made about the tax cut package enacted during President Bush's first term, including tax breaks for parents, married couples, investors and many businesses. During an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" program, Webb said he would seek to roll back "some" of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy but didn't elaborate. In a blog interview, with http://mydd.com/ , he questioned the wisdom of cutting taxes while paying for a costly war and wrote that "the tax cuts that come up for renewal in '08 -- I would want to take a very hard look at that."

Allen campaign aides Tuesday stood by their charges against Webb, saying that they are fair extrapolations from Webb's comments and his links to such national Democratic leaders as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), whom they described as favoring higher taxes. Allen declined to be interviewed.

"When [Webb] goes out and talks about taxes, he attacks the tax relief plan," said Allen spokesman Dan Allen, who is not related to the senator. "When you're talking about rolling back tax cuts . . . you are talking about a tax increase."

In a meeting with reporters yesterday, Webb accused Allen of misrepresenting his view on taxes. "What they have done in those ads is taken a statement or statements I made in a general way, saying the extensions of the Bush tax cut should be looked at, and [Allen's campaign] applied them to every single tax," Webb said.

Webb also said he opposes raising taxes "that affect a broad swath of Americans," including proposals to reverse efforts to close the so-called marriage penalty.