Although several months remain before November's U.S. Senate general election, Sen. Chuck Robb (D) and Republican candidate former-Governor George Allen already have begun to clash over tax-cut proposals.
Allen recently revealed his tax cut package, which includes tax relief for parents of school-aged children. Under the Allen plan families would receive a $1,000 per child tax credit to purchase educational items such as computers and books.
This plan will "maximize the education of every child," said Tim Murtaugh, spokesman for the Allen campaign.
But the Robb camp said the tax credit is an attempt to provide funding for private school children, said Robb's campaign manager, Jim Mulhall.
The proposal "diverts public funding away from public schools," Mulhall said.
Allen also is seeking tax cuts for caregivers to the elderly, married couples and those under long-term medical care.
Allen's tax cut plan stands in stark contrast to the anti-tax-cut stance Robb has shown during his term as senator, Murtaugh said.
Robb "demonstrates hard constant opposition to tax cuts of any kind," he said. "The guy hates to cut taxes and loves to raise taxes."
But the Robb camp wishes to stress that Robb does not oppose tax cuts in general. Before any tax cuts are given, he wants to ensure that programs such as Social Security and Medicare are paid for, Mulhall said.
Also Robb's tax cuts "are more targeted and focused," said Craig Beiber, executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Beiber said the Robb camp chose to give tax cuts to the poor "rather than giving the rich a tax break, which seems to be the Allen plan," Beiber said.
But the Allen camp cautions voters against Robb's claims of tax cuts, said Murtaugh.
"An election year conversion shouldn't fool anyone," he said.
Larry J. Sabato, government and foreign affairs professor, said Republicans are analyzing Robb's voting patterns in a strictly partisan manner. They may be focusing only on Republican tax cut proposals that Robb has voted against, Sabato said.
"Robb has voted for Democratic tax cut bills," he said.
Political analysts caution voters to be wary of this political back and forth between the two candidates.
"We need to remember that [the race] is highly partisan," Sabato said.
Presently both parties are in the very early stages of campaigning and foresee many other issues arising in the next few months.
"Taxes and education are just the two [issues] we've jumped on right now," Murtaugh said.
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