The men at the top of the Republican ticket continued to hammer a theme of controlled spending and budget reform yesterday. Gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell, who is a former state attorney general, and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said they want to increase the amount of money the state can stash in its “rainy-day” fund. They also want to institute performance audits of major agencies and change the cycle of the state’s two-year budget.

Iran’s missile tests demonstrate the importance of U.N. inspections and of muscular diplomacy by additional world powers, according to Virginia’s U.S. senators. “Iran’s latest missile test is part of a pattern of provocative behavior that underscores the need for Tehran to open up its newly discovered nuclear fuel sites to international inspectors,“ Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., said in a statement.

Republican attorney general candidate Ken Cuccinelli picked up the endorsement today of 77 mostly Republican law enforcement officials, including sheriff’s and commonwealth’s attorneys.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is returning to Virginia lend support for his party’s nominee for governor, Bob McDonnell.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., warned yesterday that an increased military presence in Afghanistan would risk a “tipping point” in which U.S. troops are viewed as an occupying force. He also questioned whether Afghanistan, without a viable national government, is capable of building its own security force of 400,000 troops as the top U.S. commander envisions.

Bob McDonnell, the Republican nominee for governor, insisted yesterday that he can raise money for transportation without raising taxes or taking money that now goes to education. During an appearance by McDonnell on “Fox News Sunday,“ host Chris Wallace noted that 46 percent of Virginia’s general fund goes to education, 24 percent to health and human resources and 11 percent to public safety. He asked McDonnell which he would cut to fund transportation.

Fallout from a controversial shift to a privately run computer network has some Virginia leaders rethinking their affinity for outsourcing. But the state, if only for financial reasons, shows no sign of retreating from what some call “government by contract.“ “This privatizing has got to stop,“ said Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw of Fairfax County, a business-friendly Democrat. “That’s become an excuse for not paying for services. . . . What are you going to do for your next act—sell the Capitol?“

Fallout from a controversial shift to a privately run computer network has some Virginia leaders rethinking their affinity for outsourcing. But the state, if only for financial reasons, shows no sign of retreating from what some call “government by contract.“ “This privatizing has got to stop,“ said Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw of Fairfax County, a business-friendly Democrat. “That’s become an excuse for not paying for services. . . . What are you going to do for your next act—sell the Capitol?“

President Barack Obama’s personal appeal to L. Douglas Wilder made Wilder’s refusal to back fellow Democrat R. Creigh Deeds for governor a bigger story. And Obama’s health-care and energy proposals have made it easier for Republican Bob McDonnell to bring federal issues into the Virginia contest. But the president retains a solid base of support in Virginia—with demonstrated fundraising and organizational prowess.

President Barack Obama’s personal appeal to L. Douglas Wilder made Wilder’s refusal to back fellow Democrat R. Creigh Deeds for governor a bigger story. And Obama’s health-care and energy proposals have made it easier for Republican Bob McDonnell to bring federal issues into the Virginia contest. But the president retains a solid base of support in Virginia—with demonstrated fundraising and organizational prowess.

The last full week of September ended with the campaigns of both of Virginia’s candidates for governor claiming victory. Both had reasons to be happy. Three polls released during the past week show that Democrat R. Creigh Deeds has closed the gap with Republican Bob McDonnell to within 2 to 5 percentage points. “It’s a reflection of the fact that people are waking up to the race and responding very well to Creigh’s message and show a healthy amount of skepticism of Bob’s message and his record,“ Deeds senior adviser Mo Elleithee said a conference call with reporters.

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation plans to create a new state park along the Mayo River in Henry County.

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, despite pleas from President Barack Obama and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, yesterday declined to endorse fellow Democrat R. Creigh Deeds for governor. Wilder, who also is a former Richmond mayor, said he disagrees with Deeds’ willingness to raise taxes and with his opposition to a gun-control law that Wilder had championed as governor.

Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., in a speech on the Senate floor, yesterday warned of the consequences of inaction on a health-care overhaul. “Doing nothing means exploding our federal deficit,“ Warner said. “Doing nothing means doubling the health-care premium cost for American families. “Doing nothing means that American companies will be less competitive in a global market and [that] our small businesses will continue to be challenged to meet their basic needs.“

Now Playing: “You Lie II, Revenge of the Virginia Democrats.“ Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said yesterday that he was “frankly shocked” to see that Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, had asked for fundraising help from the South Carolina congressman who disrupted President Barack Obama’s health-care speech to Congress. “You’re known by the company you keep,“ said Kaine, speaking yesterday afternoon at the state Capitol in Richmond.

McDonnell Deeds In endorsing Republican Bob McDonnell over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds for governor, the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce yesterday cited the Republican’s “stronger support” for its pro-business agenda and priorities, “specifically for identifying a plan for transportation.“ But Gov. Timothy M. Kaine yesterday lashed out at McDonnell’s roads plan, suggesting that it relies on “fantasy revenue.“ He criticized McDonnell’s reliance on money that now goes into the general fund.

The two men who want to be Virginia’s next governor pitched their campaigns to the Richmond-area business community this morning, touting their plans to get the state’s sluggish economy moving again. Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds spoke of tax incentives for small businesses, energy issues and their version of a fix for the commonwealth’s economically strangling transportation woes.

Bob McDonnell, the Republican nominee for governor, yesterday leveled his toughest criticism yet of the state’s troubled information-technology agency. “What I do know is the performance has got to be better. And state agencies have got to be served better,“ McDonnell said after a meeting of IT workers from across Virginia, including the agency’s brass. “We can’t make excuses, and we can’t have delays, and we can’t have finger-pointing. Those are unacceptable.“

Pitching for African-American votes, Bob McDonnell talks so much about black political icons—most of them Democrats—that it might be easy to forget that he’s the Republican nominee for governor. In separate appearances last night at historically black Virginia Union University, McDonnell and Democratic nominee R. Creigh Deeds spotlighted issues that have special resonance among African-Americans.

Wilson Howell No lie—the South Carolina congressman who interrupted President Barack Obama’s health-care speech to Congress is raising money for Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford. In an e-mail to thousands of prospective donors to Howell’s political-action committee, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., warns that “big liberal money” imperils continued GOP control of the House of Delegates.

Sen. R. Creigh Deeds launched three new statewide TV ads on Monday in an effort to extend a recent surge in the polls in his gubernatorial campaign against GOP nominee Bob McDonnell.

They lined up early. They listened without booing. And they left in an orderly fashion—without shouting, fighting or the escort of law enforcement. Given the partisan sound and fury in recent town halls on health-care reform, attendees said yesterday’s Richmond Times-Dispatch public forum was just what the doctor ordered. “What you see on TV as far as trying to get messages across from our congressmen has just been a spectacle,“ said Thomas Francis, 66, a retired truck dispatcher from Richmond and one of 225 people who attended the forum at the newspaper’s offices in downtown Richmond.

On the way from the town hall to the public square, a polite and bipartisan conversation began about the future of health care in the United States. Civility reigned in a 90-minute Public Square forum yesterday at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The forum featured two local congressmen on opposite sides of a political fight over health-care reform that grew nasty at town-hall meetings across the country last month.

The state is giving tax delayers and tax avoiders a chance to pay up without penalty. The state is even putting a smiley face—literally—on a tax amnesty program that it hopes will add $41 million to its cash-strapped coffers. Previous amnesty programs in 1991 and 2003 were threatening, state Tax Commissioner Janie E. Bowen told members of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday.

Virginia’s new computer chief expects the giant company hired to run the state’s problem-plagued information-technology network to control costs. George F. Coulter, chief information officer, yesterday said he has even pressed Northrop Grumman to dismiss several lawyers and a marketing firm because their services were billed to the state.

Democrat R. Creigh Deeds has drawn within 4 percentage points of Republican Bob McDonnell among likely voters, according to a Washington Post poll released yesterday. Deeds, a state senator from Bath County, has gained among women voters and in Northern Virginia as McDonnell’s 1989 graduate school thesis has become an issue in the past three weeks.

Democrat R. Creigh Deeds has drawn within 4 percentage points of Republican Bob McDonnell among likely voters, according to a Washington Post poll released yesterday. Deeds, a state senator from Bath County, has gained among women voters and in Northern Virginia as McDonnell’s 1989 graduate school thesis has become an issue in the past three weeks.

Organized labor has donated $1.4 million to Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds, while the real estate and construction industry has funneled nearly $2 million to his Republican opponent, Bob McDonnell. That’s in addition to the millions of dollars pumped in by political groups jockeying for a win in one of only two gubernatorial elections in the country this year.

Organized labor has donated $1.4 million to Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds, while the real estate and construction industry has funneled nearly $2 million to his Republican opponent, Bob McDonnell. That’s in addition to the millions of dollars pumped in by political groups jockeying for a win in one of only two gubernatorial elections in the country this year.