The intended implication, apparently, was that Kaine is so wobbly on the death penalty that even Hitler would escape punishment. Whatever the intent, Kilgore's camp clearly distorted both what Kaine said and what he meant.
FactCheck.org, the fact-checking arm of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, dissected the quote in question, a variation of which came from a September editorial board meeting with Kaine at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Kaine was responding to a reporter's questions about the extent of his opposition to the death penalty, as in: Would even Hitler qualify for ultimate justice? Kaine, who also opposes abortion, equivocated somewhat, saying that "God grants life, and God should take it away ." Nevertheless, he's on record repeatedly promising to enforce the laws of the state, including the death penalty.
At the newspaper meeting, Kaine, in fact, said that Hitler "may deserve the death penalty" for his acts. He never said that Hitler doesn't qualify for the death penalty.
Even had he gotten his facts right, Kilgore should have resisted the temptation to exploit the Hitler moment. He cheapened himself even as he helped devalue Hitler's unique contribution to human horror.
What's clear is that playing the Hitler card is a cheap trick designed only to sensationalize and stir emotions. Hyperbolists on both sides of the political aisle are equally guilty, and the effect is both numbing and boring. "Hitler" isn't a magician of horror; he's a stuntman for unimaginative hucksters.
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, writing for Time magazine a few years ago, described Adolf Hitler as "the incarnation of absolute evil . Under his hypnotic gaze, humanity crossed a threshold from which one could see the abyss."
As such, Hitler deserves our continued scrutiny and study. How else to prevent another? But we should retire his name as a casual catchall for whomever we find awful.
Familiarity breeds not only contempt, but also indifference. And Hitler's death camps taught us what indifference breeds.