Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Robert McDonnell began outlining the broad themes of their campaigns for governor Wednesday in a race that will focus heavily on jobs and the economy and take on national political significance for both parties. Just hours into the general election, Deeds told hundreds of sign-waving supporters at a rally here that he would bridge partisan and regional divides in the mold of moderate Democrats Gov. Timothy Kaine and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner. McDonnell conducted a series of drive-time radio interviews to tell listeners that he would serve as a fiscal watchdog bent on reining in spending in Richmond. The two were quick to begin trading accusations that their opponent appealed to the fringe of their party. McDonnell, Deeds said, opposes abortion rights, stem cell research and federal stimulus money. 'The contrast this fall could not be more stark,' he said. 'Bob McDonnell has a social and economic agenda that will take us back.' McDonnell, in turn, said Deeds would be a poor steward to guide the state through a recession. 'My philosophy is to keep taxes, regulation and litigation low,' he said. 'He set a record of doing something different.' The two men spoke once, cordially, shortly after Deeds addressed supporters Tuesday night to celebrate winning his party's nomination in a blow-out election. 'I just said, `Bob, I look forward to a clean, fair fight,'' Deeds said. But Wednesday foreshadowed what could become a fractious general election. In a state where a decade of trend lines have shown the northern suburbs exerting increasing political power, Deeds and McDonnell both signaling that much of the fall campaign will be fought over who best appeals to Northern Virginia voters. Deeds bases his claim on the region in part on the fact that he won a majority there Tuesday. McDonnell says he's a natural fit because he grew up there. 'I'm the Northern Virginia candidate,' McDonnell said during one interview. Even before the Democratic primary had ended, though, Democrats had started revving up efforts to peg McDonnell as a social conservative and embarked on $3 million TV campaign describing him as a candidate who would be unfriendly to working people. Republicans, who appeared to be caught off guard by Deeds' come-from-behind victory, began distributing information immediately to reporters Tuesday night, describing the new Democratic nominee as a candidate who would spend recklessly and increase taxes. Deeds, they said, backed a 2004 tax package helmed by Warner that resulted in new investments in state services. Deeds also has backed a succession of proposals to use new tax dollars for transportation. Last year, he voted for an ultimately unsuccessful proposal to raise the gas tax by six cents over six years. The vote came while gas prices were high. Republicans signaled that the gas-tax vote could become a highlight of their campaign. That vote was the first bullet point on a Republican Governors Association e-mail welcoming Deeds to the race. The e-mail was headlined 'Deeds: High Taxes, Unelectable.' Also immediately clear Wednesday was that Virginia's high-stakes governor's race -- only one of two statewide races in the nation this year -- will draw aggressive involvement by national leaders in both political parties. A morning rally Deeds held with Kaine and the two men he defeated, Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran, was cut short so he could take a phone call from President Obama. Anita Dunn, a top Obama adviser, said the president pledged to campaign for Deeds and host a fundraiser for him. 'We plan to help in any way we can,' Dunn said. Deeds was virtually ignored by his rivals for months as polls repeatedly showed him in a distant third place. But he received a received a surge of momentum in the race's final weeks after he aired statewide TV ads and received the unexpected endorsement from The Washington Post. Donations began pouring in and Deeds was able to quickly retooled his strategy to add more events and a TV ad blitz in Northern Virginia. Staff writers Dan Balz, Rosalind S. Helderman, Fredrick Kunkle, Michael Laris and Michael D. Shear contributed to this report. 