Answers now in the 25th

Those seeking a measure of the acrimony pervading the politics of the moment can find a heaping helping in the House District 25 race, where incumbent Republican Steve Landes and Democratic challenger Greg Marrow have taken to sniping over everything from White House e-mails to, of course, the economy. That will be the background noise tonight, when the candidates meet in The News Virginian District 25 Debate at the Kate Collins Middle School Auditorium in Waynesboro.

Sweeter chords than typical discord might be difficult to strike.

Having cruised through all but one of seven previous campaigns without the perturbation of a major-party opponent, Landes now confronts one accusing him of deficiency on the economy, for starters. “Our district is suffering from the outsourcing of jobs and the current economic situation,” Dr. Marrow the optometrist, declares on his Web site beneath a photo of him in glittering Navy whites from his military days. “Despite this, our representative in Richmond has done nothing to reverse this trend or increase the quality of life of our families and neighbors even though there have been opportunities to do so.”

Marrow’s alternatives are the stuff of modern partisan fare. He vows he’ll rake in a slice of $625 million in federal green job training money and some of “$20 billion dedicated to high-paying green jobs,” presumably a reference to the amount President Barack Obama allocated in his stimulus plan to spark energy savings and spawn green jobs.

We like all kinds of green things, including energy, but the evidence supports a Muppet maxim: It’s not easy. Obama’s stimulus bill is idling at neutral with the gas running out and the engine overheating. The president said he’d create or save 3.5 million jobs, an intriguing boast (how does one define “saved” jobs?) and one yet to be substantiated. The unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in February when the stimulus was passed. The rate was 9.6 percent last month. Where are those jobs again?

Another part of Marrow’s pitch is difficult to buy. Reversing outsourcing and the current economic situation, realities familiar to most of America, is rather a tall order for a 25th District delegate. It’s popular when the economy is swirling in the bottom of the toilet for challengers to jab fingers in the direction of the incumbent. The “current crisis” is a bit larger than Steve Landes.

Still, the Republican from Weyers Cave isn’t exactly bubbling over with ideas for rousing the local economy. His crusade of late is against the closing of interstate rest stops, a position Marrow mirrors. We’re still mystified by opposition to a push to privatize, a move supported by Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. It’s a political salve for locals to play the part of savior, faux or otherwise, whenever local facilities are targeted for cuts. But there’s more to be done than rescue rest stops.

How would the candidates breathe life into a sluggish local economy? How would they navigate the thorny issue of finding money to unclog roads in Northern Virginia while protecting the interests of their constituents in the central Valley? These are the issues that will shape the election. We’ll pose these questions and others tonight. We’ll field a question from the audience at the close of the debate, which starts at 6 p.m. Join us. The time, after all, is fast approaching for answers.