Virginia cannot afford a return to the era of fiscal mismanagement characterized by the two Republican governors who preceded Mark Warner in the Executive Mansion.

After eight years of short-sheeting the state budget by George Allen and Jim Gilmore, Warner led a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers that made the hard choices needed to keep Virginia solvent and able to make necessary investments in the future for such vital public services as education and transportation -- even though the needs still far outweigh the resources to meet them.

Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine is the one candidate for governor who can continue leading Virginia in the right direction, and avoid a disastrous detour to the failed policies of the past.

Russ Potts ran a courageous and forthright campaign as an independent. He took on the tough issues and laid out tough solutions.

But despite that -- or, perhaps, because of that -- his campaign never gained traction with the voters. And the outcome of this election is too important to throw away a single vote on a quixotic gesture.

The candidacy of former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore has been most disappointing.

His recent emphasis on the death penalty raises questions as to whether Kilgore would prop an executioner's axe in one corner of the governor's office. The ads he ran attacking Kaine's principled opposition to the death penalty have been shameless and, according to some polls, counterproductive.

His opposition to a day laborer's center in Herndon because it could benefit illegal immigrants was a nativist intrusion into a local issue.

But the fiscal recklessness of Kilgore's campaign is most distressing. He has simultaneously attacked the 2004 budget compromise while making promises that would consume every bit of the revenue it generated, and then some.

Kaine's campaign has been more serious, and more positive -- despite a couple of questionable potshots aimed at Kilgore.

Throughout his campaign, Kaine has made it clear that he understands the wisdom, and the necessity, of investing in Virginia's future.

He has proposed universal preschool for Virginia -- a wise, but expensive, investment that would pay substantial dividends in the future.

He's had a harder time than Potts articulating a coherent transportation policy complete with a financial plan, but throughout the campaign, Kaine has made clear that he recognizes the depth of the problem.

And his willingness to discuss giving localities more tools to limit the impact of growth on the transportation infrastructure -- despite protests from his major backers in the development community -- shows foresight and independence.

Electing Tim Kaine as governor will give Virginia its best chance to move forward and avoid the financial pitfalls of the past.