Partisan Kaine
January 5, 2009 by chrisgraham
Solve problems. Unify people. Results. This is the message that Republicans are in their own inimitable partisan way are saying will mark the death of the Virginia Democrat as Tim Kaine prepares to take over the Democratic National Committee.
The last time I saw Kaine, two months ago in Staunton, in the afterglow of the victory of his friends Barack Obama and Mark Warner in a Virginia that people were starting to say had turned blue, he was less Karl Rove proclaiming a permanent majority and more, well, Obama and Warner, staying as close to the political center as was possible for the titular head of a state party.
“I think Virginia is still independent-minded,” Kaine told me when I asked him about Virginia and the color blue. “The fact that we don’t register by party - even folks who call themselves Dems have usually voted for an R, and vice versa, and then the biggest group is folks who call themselves independents. So you have to be able to win independents to win statewide, and independents, they want to see problem-solvers, they want to see unifiers. They don’t want the wedge issues and the division, and they don’t want to see a lot of rhetoric and partisan deadlock. They want to see results,” Kaine said.
That was why Kaine thinks Obama was able to bring Virginia into the Democratic column for the first time in 44 years. “He doesn’t demonize the opposition, and he always looks to try to find the common ground to solve problems. That’s what Virginians like. They don’t like the hard partisans, and they don’t like the dividers. They like problem-solvers and unifiers,” Kaine said of Obama, who has made bipartisan unity a theme of his transition, nominating Bush administration holdover Robert Gates to serve as his Secretary of Defense and GOP Congressman Ray LaHood to serve as his Secretary of Transportation and tapping conservative evangelical Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.
So here was Kaine preaching this sermon about how Democrats have to govern from the middle. Naturally Virginia Republicans, who are so far removed from the middle of the political spectrum that the middle no doubt does look far, far left to them anymore, are seizing upon Kaine’s elevation to the head of the DNC as an opportunity to score partisan points by suggesting that somehow he’ll change his stripes once he gets to Washington.
“This is a highly partisan post at a time when Virginia desperately needs bipartisan leadership,” said Phil Cox, the senior strategist for Attorney General Bob McDonnell, the presumptive ‘09 GOP gubernatorial nominee. Republican lawmakers, Cox told the conservative Times-Dispatch, are “looking for leaders who are willing to reach across the aisle to get things done. And I don’t think this helps,” Cox said.
Not to be outdone, G. Paul Nardo, the chief of staff to House Speaker Bill Howell, said Kaine’s involvement with the DNC would fully erase the image of Virginia Democrats as putting “Virginia ahead of party interests.”
Solve problems. Unify people. Results.
“Democrats, we’ve been that party,” Kaine told me back in November in Staunton. “Now, any Republican can wake up tomorrow and say, I want to be that person. So it’s not really a partisan message, it’s just the one that we Democrats have really been able to use as our governing philosophy, and Virginians have responded,” Kaine said.
On second thought, maybe those Republicans have it right. Tim Kaine is such an obvious flaming partisan. I mean, really.
- Column by Chris Graham
C. Richard Cranwell, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, released the following statement Monday about reports of Governor Kaine’s candidacy for Democratic National Committee chair.
“President-elect Obama could not have a better partner to bring change to Washington than Governor Tim Kaine,” Cranwell said. “Under Governor Kaine, Virginia has been a national model for effective, common-sense governance. We look forward to Governor Kaine sharing the Virginia Way with the rest of the country, as he helps President Obama reinvigorate America’s economy.
“For the past three years, I have had the pleasure of working closely with Governor Kaine in building one of the best state parties in the country. We have done this not by playing partisan politics, but by delivering results on the issues that matter to middle-class families in Virginia. If selected, I expect Governor Kaine to provide the same style of leadership in Washington.
“When I spoke to Governor Kaine this week, he told me that his number one priority will be balancing Virginia’s budget during this legislative session. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate plan to work together with Republicans to steer Virginia’s economy through tough times. We hope that our Republican counterparts share the same mission at the state level and at the national level.”
Senator R. Creigh Deeds released the following statement Monday in response to news reports that Governor Tim Kaine will serve as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee:
“The selection of Governor Tim Kaine as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee is a victory for Virginia Democrats, our national party, and portends many electoral victories in the years to come.
‘Our success as a state party began with Kaine and Governor Mark Warner’s elections in 2001 and continues to this day — winning the Governor’s mansion again in 2005; the election of Senator Jim Webb in 2006; returning the state Senate to Democratic control in 2007; the victories of Mark Warner for U.S. Senate, and Gerry Connolly, Glenn Nye and Tom Perriello for Congress last year; and, historically, giving President-elect Barack Obama the Commonwealth’s 13 electoral votes.
‘Governor Kaine knows as well as anyone else that there aren’t Democratic and Republican solutions because the challenges we face know no partisan stripes. But, he also knows that elections are about choices. This November, Virginians will have the opportunity to choose between keeping our Commonwealth moving forward and breaking with the Warner-Kaine brand of leadership that has brought us so far. I look forward to continuing my work with Tim Kaine in the weeks and months ahead, both in his role as Governor of the Commonwealth and leader of our Party.”
Brian Moran released the following statement after several news outlets reported that Virginia Governor Tim Kaine will be named Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Moran was Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus during the Kaine administration and is now a candidate to succeed Kaine as governor.
“This is another example of Virginia leadership helping to fix what’s broken in Washington. Governor Kaine will join President-elect Obama at a critical point in our nation’s history, bringing the type of Virginia values and vision that Washington so desperately needs. Being Tim Kaine’s legislative partner has been a pleasure, and I wish him the very best.”
Terry McAuliffe released the following statement on Governor Tim Kaine’s appointment as Chair of the DNC:
“It is great news that Governor Kaine will be heading up the DNC. The Governor’s appointment is a reaffirmation of the power of the Virginia Democratic brand -and I can’t think of a better next step for the Democratic Party. Over the last seven years, Democrats have made huge gains in Virginia, specifically because we have focused on delivering results instead of partisanship. The Governor’s commitment to putting Virginia first is clear, and if he manages the DNC with even half the skill he’s shown at managing the state, the future will be very bright for Democrats. I’m also proud of Virginia for producing two of the last three DNC Chairs.”
On the day of their swearing-in, Virginia’s three new Congressmen thanked Gov. Tim Kaine for helping them get elected and congratulated the Governor on reports of his selection as Democratic National Committee chair.
Kaine helped to lead a ground-breaking coordinated campaign in 2008, which led to the election of Senator Mark Warner, and Congressmen Glenn Nye (VA-02), Tom Perriello (VA-05) and Gerry Connolly (VA-11). On Tuesday, all four new Virginia leaders were sworn in on Capitol Hill.
“President-elect Obama’s decision to tap Governor Tim Kaine as the next Democratic National Committee Chair is a great honor for Virginia,” Congressman Connolly said. “I can’t think of a better choice to benefit Virginia, the nation, and the Democratic Party.
“Tim Kaine is uniquely qualified to lead the oldest political party in America, particularly at a time when building coalitions is critical to our nation’s future,” Connolly continued. “Governor Kaine is a results-oriented leader who has shown, time and again, that he is willing to work across the aisle to reach effective solutions to the issues facing our Commonwealth.”
Congressman-elect Tom Perriello praised Governor Kaine for the model he has provided for candidates to talk about their faith.
“Governor Kaine has been a mentor to me and a model of servant leadership as known in our faith tradition,” Perriello said. “He has always shown the ability to put the interests of others before his own, and I’m confident he will continue to be a servant leader as DNC Chair. Governor Kaine has shown that Democrats win when we focus on delivering results for working families.
“Without his leadership and guidance, I would not be here today. I’m pleased to see Governor Kaine’s likely selection as DNC Chair and I look forward to working with him to continue to deliver results for Virginia families.”
Congressman Glenn Nye added that Kaine served a key role in helping him to victory, which he celebrated with his swearing-in on Tuesday.
“Governor Kaine is absolutely the right pick to head the Democratic Party,” Nye said. “Throughout my campaign, Governor Kaine was one of my closest mentors, and his brand of commonsense, effective leadership is exactly what the country needs right now.”
Connolly also responded to political attacks on Governor Kaine, saying that Kaine’s selection should not serve as an excuse for state elected officials to hold up progress in Richmond.
“To those who are trying to poison the waters with partisan rhetoric as the Virginia General Assembly prepares to begin its 2009 session, I would suggest their comments about Governor Kaine are ill-founded and off-base,” Connolly said. “Tim Kaine has shown that he is quite adept at multi-tasking and I am confident he will continue to lead Virginia ably and responsibly.
“I applaud President-elect Obama for choosing Tim Kaine to lead the DNC and I applaud Governor Kaine for agreeing to take this critical position at a critical time in our nation’s history.”
Statement of State Senator and Attorney General candidate Ken Cuccinelli on the selection of Tim Kaine as Chairman of the DNC:
“I am hopeful that Tim Kaine will be as successful with the Democrat Party’s finances as he has been with Virginia’s. Three years into Governor Kaine’s tenure, Virginia now has a deficit of $3 Billion and climbing. I and other Senate Republicans warned in March 2008 that Kaine’s budget estimates were absolutely ridiculous. He made economic assumptions in the face of a recession that were absurd, such as his assumption that private incomes would grow around 7% — In a recession!”
“That Governor Kaine will be spending even less time governing is bad news for Virginians in these difficult budgetary times, but good news for Republicans across the country.”
Oh, come on, you know Kaine is partisan just as well as I do. The difference is that he is smart enough not to offend centrist voters with rhetoric aimed at pleasing his party’s “base,” and he really is serious about tackling policy issues — with liberal tools, of course. But just look at that devilish grin and those arched eyebrows — he’s sneaky, all right.
Partisan, how? Partisan Karl Rove claiming to be building a 50-year majority? He’s not that kind of partisan. He’s not even partisan enough to make most of the Dems that I know all that happy to call him one of their own. I could concede the observation on approaching policy issues with a partisan mindset. I would tend to give him credit for being the rare politician in this day and age interested in policy issues.
Well, he is not nearly as obnoxious as the hyper-partisan Karl Rove, but that’s an extreme comparison. Being partisan is not a bad thing in and of itself. Kaine often stretches the limits, however. He has repeatedly courted moderate Republicans in Richmond to get his bills passed, and then left them hanging or retaliated against them when it suited his purposes. He very astutely played on divisions among Republicans. In August 2006, he boasted at an AFL-CIO convention in Vienna that “progressives” (code word for leftists) were leading the way to regain control of the state legislature from the GOP. Then he promotes his overtly liberal social agenda such as preschool care under the disingenuous pretense of “bipartisanship,” tweaking his opponents every chance he gets. In sum, he is a zestful, unabashedly partisan politician much like Hubert Humphrey, and that’s how he got this new gig. How many past DNC Chairmen have NOT been partisan?
Progressive is code for leftist? Sorry, but you’re wrong on that one. I’m one who considers himself progressive, and I’m far from being leftist. How many leftists preach fiscal discipline, economic development and national defense as core responsibilities?
Looking across the spectrum, the concept of conservative has been hijacked today by those who paradoxically want to starve government out of existence and want to expand government to enforce their narrow views of how to live private lives. Leftists, similarly, want government to enforce their views of how people should live life, and digress from conservatives in wanting as big a government as possible for big government’s sake. Progressives want a responsible, well-managed government that is fiscally disciplined, focused on growing the economy and a responsible approach to defense and security, and want a government that keeps its nose out of people’s private business.
Tim Kaine is that kind of progressive. A sensible centrist in line with the mainstream of America. His DNC tenure will serve to reinforce the centrist approach that has made Democrats successful in recent state and national elections. At some point Republicans will learn that the way back to the victory circle will not be to bash the Kaines of the world, but instead emulate them and move back from the extreme to the center of the political spectrum. It seems that we’re a few years away from that realization taking hold with the mainstream of the GOP as long as the view is that the likes of Tim Kaine are partisan.
As a State Public Safety Employee I if I HAD to take one of the last two Dem Governor back; I’ll take Warner! I don’t much care for Tim Kaine, I have had several chances to meet both and I found Kaine dismissive of my profession. Just my opinion.