The Virginia Governor’s race is heating up between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli. In order to build awareness about the other options in the election, third party candidate Robert Sarvis visited Mason, where he visited the Honors 131 class of Mason’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Professor Steven Pearlstein and answered questions from students and guests.

In Virginia this year, low unemployment among 18-24 year olds and higher education is brought to the forefront of the governors’ debate. Virginia21, a non-partisan group dedicated to educating Virginia’s 18-26 year olds, reports the current economic recovery largely excludes that same age group, wages for 21 year olds have fallen 5.4% since 2011 and people under 25 are twice as likely to be unemployed as the general population.

The very fact that George Allen has primarily run his campaign touting his record and credentials as a responsible “fiscal conservative” is perhaps the most ridiculous assertion I have heard all campaign season, and that is saying something. The best comparable analogy would be General Pinochet boasting about his stellar human rights record. As is often the case in politics, Allen’s rhetoric about being such an ardent deficit hawk simply fails to match reality.