The first debate of the gubernatorial campaign season will be held today before the Virginia Bar Association at The Homestead resort in Democrat R. Creigh Deeds' home territory.
Deeds lives across the mountain in Millboro.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Deeds said he did not expect to have home-field advantage, but he does welcome the chance to sleep in his own bed.
Republican Bob McDonnell, who lives in Henrico County, will be staying at the resort hotel.
In a general-election campaign that has been quiet thus far, McDonnell and Deeds have been raising funds and busily prepping for the debate, which is expected to be one of four held before the Nov. 3 election.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama will cross the Potomac River on Aug. 6 to campaign for Deeds. He will attend a public rally and private fundraiser at the McLean Hilton Hotel in Tysons Corner. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was in the Richmond area recently to help the Democrat.
Richmond lawyer David Hallock, who portrayed former Gov. Jim Gilmore last year in Democrat Mark R. Warner's U.S. Senate debate preparations, is standing in for McDonnell this year.
A spokesman for McDonnell said a team of stand-ins is representing Deeds.
Rodney Smolla, dean of the Washington & Lee University Law School, will moderate the debate. The two candidates also will get to question each other.
The annual summer meeting of the bar association has for a number of years sponsored the first debate.
McDonnell gave a hint of his debate strategy Thursday. He described the debate as "a table-setter" and said he would try to draw Deeds out on his stands on cap-and-trade legislation, union "card check" legislation and transportation.
Deeds says the first two of those issues are federal; McDonnell says they will affect Virginia.
Political commentator Robert D. Holsworth said McDonnell's strategy to tie Deeds to national Democratic policies is risky because Republicans are perceived as naysayers.
He expects Deeds to try to portray McDonnell as a representative of "the party of no." He also says Deeds needs to paint his own identity rather than running as "the first cousin of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine."
Deeds and McDonnell unveiled transportation plans this week.
In a detailed brief, McDonnell said he would privatize Virginia's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and dedicate the proceeds to transportation; capture tax revenue from the growth in port operations and from sales-tax collections in Northern Virginia; expand public-private partnerships; and create tolls for traffic coming into Virginia on Interstate 85 and Interstate 95 from North Carolina.
Deeds says he would call a special session of the General Assembly to deal with transportation, emphasize telecommuting and emphasize high-speed rail service. He has not said how he plans to pay for transportation improvements.
Both men have promised to reopen highway rest stops, 18 of which were closed Wednesday as a cost-saving measure.
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or twhitley@timesdispatch.com.
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