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VA-Gov: Tim Kaine to Head DNC

by: DavidNYC

Sun Jan 04, 2009 at 6:20 PM EST


WaPo:

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will become chairman of the Democratic National Committee later this month, serving as the top political messenger for Barack Obama's administration even while he finishes his final year in the governor's mansion, several sources said.

Kaine, who emerged as one of Obama's vice presidential finalists this summer, will operate from Richmond in a part-time capacity until January 2010, when he will become the full-time DNC chairman. Kaine is constitutionally barred from running for reelection.

Brownsox points out that the current governor of Virginia is going to become chairman of the DNC, while a former DNC chair is trying to become governor of Virginia (Terry McAuliffe, of course).
DavidNYC :: VA-Gov: Tim Kaine to Head DNC
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VA-Gov: Tim Kaine to Head DNC | 46 comments
It was always going to be an Obama loyalist
But this is a surprise. I imagine he is a little centrist for most tastes but then whoever got the gig was unlikely to rock the boat. And maybe it helps hold Virginia in November.
Hell NO
on mydd they say kaine''s name is being leaked and that there must be aelection by dnc members by mar 1. kaine is unacceptable. he is against choice. agaisnt gay rights. bowers points out some of his speeches chastising dems for standing up for abortion rights. hell no to kaine. i expect a big interparty fight or his name to be pulled i pray
Well if Chris Bowers doesn't like him
then I'm all for him  

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
[ Parent ]
IIRC Bowers was complaining about how Mark Warner was bad for Democrats and the US Senate because he wasn't liberal enough for Bowers.
This purist nonsense is aggravating.  The fact is, in 2005 Kaine raised over 30 million dollars in his race for governor.  He can help Democrats of all stars and stripes by raising that kind of money and more as head of the DNC.  
[ Parent ]
Or do you mean Matt Stoller?
In any case, his opinion of Warner seems a little... fluid.

Stoller, 13 September 2007:

Mark Warner has annouced he's in the Senate race with this disgusting Lieberman-esque video. [...]

Warner's a centrist, not a partisan, and my guess is that this will turn a lot of people off who had previously 'loved' Mark Warner.  If the Republicans can find a candidate, I think he's going to have a bumpier ride than expected.  He'll still win, in all likelihood, but he's going to be a bad Senator.

Stoller, 29 July 2008:

One of the best local blogospheres in the country - Virginia's - emerged in 2005 out of the draft Clark campaign.  Lowell Feld started the site Raising Kaine to support Tim Kaine for Governor, since Kaine was seen as a successor to Mark Warner, a Democrat who had governed effectively and progressively in the state. [...]

Not only has Kaine caved to the business right by promoting coal against the opposition of environmentalists and cutting taxes on the superwealthy, but the state is paralyzed by hyper-partisanship.  This is far from Mark Warner's era, when he was able to work with Republicans to pass progressive fiscal policies.


[ Parent ]
Oh well. Same thing. I stopped reading open left for the same reason.

[ Parent ]
Same here with MyDD and DK
The inane level of puritanicalism (apologies if that is not a word) on those site annoyed me to no end. I purposefully avoided OpenLeft b/c both Bowers and Stoller are among the worst perpetrators of this practice.

Not surprised that Bowers didn't like him, as he openly hoped Kaine would lose his 2005 race, leaving VA at the mercy of Jerry Kilgore. That incident burned his bridges in VA, and I cannot recall how many times VA bloggers like Lowell (of the now-deceased RK) and Waldo Jaquith have hammered him since. Bowers was also not keen on Jim Webb because gasp he served in the Reagan (!!!) administration. While I've had a few problems with Webb myself (namely on global warming--although he did support efforts to make the Lieberman-Warner bill stronger), he's been a very good senator IMO. While I may have a few quibbles with Mark Warner's views on a few things, that doesn't stop the fact that he was a great governor who turned his state around after the Gilmor car-tax fiasco and also prevented the R-dominated state legislature from passing some truly awful things.

I'm totally cool with this choice, as Kaine played a key role in turning VA blue. He helped Dems regain the state senate and make impressive gains in the state house, and his blowout win in Fairfax burst the door wide open for Obama and Webb to win big there. He also opened the door for the Dems in Loudon and Prince William counties, which would also be won by Webb and Obama. I may not agree with him on every issue, but that's not his job. His job is to win elections.

[ Parent ]
You know something is up...
...when they make Markos sounds like a reasonable moderate. Then again he always was really. Chris should stick to what he does best - numbercrunching.  
[ Parent ]
True
Wasn't Markos a Republican at one point? His views have always seemed fairly moderate by blogosphere standards. He's also been the most pragmatic. However, his feud with Lieberman (whom I can't stand) has really gotten tedious and at times has ventured close to Hatfield-McCoy territory. It also doesn't help when he gins up hardliners like Armando (who, apparently, is still around). There's also the fact that DK has become a haven for some really strange diaries and some apparently-notorious blowups. Still, I admire Markos for what he has achieved in both politics and his own life. Heck, someday, someone should make a film about him!

To keep things on topic, let me add that were it not for Tim Kaine, VA would still have a deep red Congressional delegation. His successes in the Norfolk-VA Beach area paved for Glenn Nye (the winning guy!), and his success in NOVA paved the way for Gerry Connolly to win in a rout. He also helped make Charlottesville a blue oasis and laid the groundwork for the ouster of Virgil Not-so-Goode.

I also think that this is the job he's cut out for. Kaine's been more of a political animal than a governing animal. Warner was both, as is Brian Moran (from what little I know of him). Deeds is more of a governing animal (to me). Kaine, while not a bad governor, has struck me as someone more interested in building political machinery than governing machinery. The metaphors will cease now before I call Kaine a mechanical animal or something.

[ Parent ]
I think Matt and Chris and OpenLeft
and some at DK represent a new type of political blogger...one who never approves of the government


Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
[ Parent ]
Sorry...
But this isn't about being "purist". This is about standing up for basic Democratic values! Kaine is anti-civil rights, anti-choice, pro-corporate welfare, and pro-DLC. He's unacceptable.

I'm sick & tired of progressives being kicked to the ground & told to like it. I don't like it. I'm sick & tired of party leaders throwing LGBT people, women, environmentalists, labor, and whoever else is "too radical" under the bus when we're "inconvenient" for them.

Kaine's a DINO, and I'll fight tooth & nail to stop him from being DNC Chair.

Yes, Virginia, there ARE progressives in Nevada!
24, gay male, Democrat, NV-03 (or 04?)

[ Parent ]
As the head of the DNC he isn't passing legislation.
He isn't signing legislation into law.  This is what he will be responsible for!
 the new DNC chairman will be responsible for reinforcing the White House message, preparing for the 2010 midterm elections and raising money.

Where in that do you find him pushing his views on candidates or the American people in any way?

http://www.google.com/hostedne...

[ Parent ]
I mean, c'mon. Republicans talk about being pro-life and do nothing just to drum up support from church-goers.
They do nothing because the legal capacity for them to do anything is miniscule if it isn't non-existent.  Kaine has no legal capacity to do anything on any of these issues you're preaching on as head of the DNC, yet you're still throwing them around like they matter here.  

Obama isn't going to be lobbied by you, all the professional lobbyists couldn't donate to his campaign for a reason.  If he made that a rule so he could be lobbied by amateurs, I'd be rather disappointed.  DNC Members aren't going to be lobbied by you because you're playing these cards just like the Republicans.  Throwing issues around like they matter when they don't.  Do you think a candidate for dog-catcher has to talk about his views on abortion?  No, for the same reason Tim Kaine won't as head of the DNC.  It has nothing to do with the scope of his job.  Period.  Get over it.  

[ Parent ]
These are important things
It's very important how he reinforces the White House message - Kaine's frames are likely to be more conservative and thus will help to damp down calls for more change - and preparing for the 2010 midterm elections is an amazingly influential role - who he funds, what kind of system he runs and who he puts forward are all deeply political issues.

That's not to say he's clearly unacceptable - some of these are not simple left-right issues and he may be alright on them - but he's not just being appointed for his rolodex.

[ Parent ]
He'll basically be a mouth piece for the Obama White House
He just isn't going to ephasize issues where he differs with the president.
[ Parent ]
I don't think you know what you're talking about
This is Tim Kaine's position on Abortion:

Kaine, a Roman Catholic who worked as a missionary in Honduras reiterated his personal opposition to abortion, but maintained the practice should not be outlawed.

When asked if he'd like to see the Supreme Court overturn Roe the Governor answered, "I don't think the Supreme Court should." He continued, "Roe vs. Wade is ultimately about saying that there is a realm of personal liberty for people to make this decision."

Kaine, while personally opposed to abortions, opposes overturning Roe v. Wade on the grounds of "personal liberty". Yes, he supported the late-term abortion ban, but even among Democrats, that's not a particularly controversial position. Kaine, as far as policy is concerned, may as well be pro-choice (

Kaine also opposes the death penalty (at minimum he supports a moratorium on the death penalty, he cited that it disproportionately affected the poor and African Americans). That's a fair bit better than a lot of Democrats.

There's nothing about Kaine that is particularly bad (true, he's more conservative than I like, but then again, he doesn't trash the left either, like Joe Lieberman or Bob Kerrey or other Democrats). Kaine is a good pick, and I gladly support him as DNC chair.

Politics and Other Random Topics

24, Male, Democrat, NM-01, Chairman of the Atheist Caucus, and Majority Leader of the "Going to Hell" caucus!

[ Parent ]
We need to start a movement.
Lobby DNC delegates. Put pressure on party leaders. Put pressure on Obama.

We need to proclaim that this is unacceptable. When we stand our ground, we win. I don't want some right-wing enabler like Kaine to undo all the good Dean has done for the party.

Yes, Virginia, there ARE progressives in Nevada!
24, gay male, Democrat, NV-03 (or 04?)

[ Parent ]
I think you might be in the minority here


Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
[ Parent ]
Wrong wrong wrong
Kaine is HARDLY a right-wing enabler. Heck, he practically adopted Dean's 50-state strategy and applied it to Virginia. Now, VA has 2 Dem senators, a 6-5 majority in the Congressional delegation (up from a 3-8 deficit), and a 21-19 state senate majority (up from a 17-23 deficit). What's more, VA voted 53-46 for a Democratic presidential nominee who happened to be African American.
[ Parent ]
No way, no how...
No Kaine! I mean it. Kaine opposes my civil rights. He doesn't think my women friends & family have any rights to their own bodies. He thinks corporate profits are more important than our own needs.

Kaine's a whimp, and we don't need a GOP-enabling whimp in charge of the DNC.

Yes, Virginia, there ARE progressives in Nevada!
24, gay male, Democrat, NV-03 (or 04?)

I'm not that categorical, but....

I don't care about the issues he couldn't actually do much about.  But in marked contrast to Republican Charlie Crist in Florida, he has done little or nothing about Virginia's serious ongoing civil rights problem: former felon disenfranchisement.  About 220,000 disenfranchisees, if not more.

Now that is an insult, because mass or blanket pardons to reenfranchise ex-felons are not a problem to Democratic voters.  And Kaine has a Democratic majority to work with.  Doing so little about the Virginia situation is f---ing moral and political wimpitude.

I think very unkind things about Team Obama in civil rights matters from the evidence to date.

[ Parent ]
Actually he doesn't
he has a two seat Senate majority and a Republican House of Delegates...which he's only had for half his term.  

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
[ Parent ]
nope

The mandatory disenfranchisement and the pardoning power of the governor are in the state constitution.  

The state legislature has no relevant power or responsibility in the matter.

[ Parent ]
I was correcting your implication
that he had a Democratic majority to work with

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
[ Parent ]
Obama won Virginia afaik

Before him Mark Warner, Kaine himself, Webb....  Kinda points to popular plurality if not majority to me.

[ Parent ]
When you say...
...that Kaine has a "Democratic majority to work with", I think that most ears around these parts would hear "a Democratic majority in the state legislature to work with" -- which we all agree is not the case.
[ Parent ]
You know...
Before 2007 both Senators were Republicans (and did you see the circus that was the 2006 senatorial race in Virginia? It felt like George Allen did everything in his power to try to lose), before Obama's victory, Virginia hadn't voted for a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and the state tends to have a conservative tilt to it.

Politics and Other Random Topics

24, Male, Democrat, NM-01, Chairman of the Atheist Caucus, and Majority Leader of the "Going to Hell" caucus!

[ Parent ]
It was a circus with monkeys!
You know what kind of monkeys.

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
How exactly?
Kaine has a personal objection to abortion. Guess what? Lots of people do, including many women. You may not be able to accept that, but get used to it. Anyway, he expresses his opposition the smart way, by supporting contraceptives and other approaches to reduce unwanted pregnancies. He also very much opposes reversing Roe v Wade, saying that the decision allows people to make such a decision on their own, w/o government interference.
[ Parent ]
Absolutely right
Hardly anyone is "hung-ho" about the procedure.  Like many I consider it an evil (and I'm atheist), but a necessary evil.  If Kaine's position is that he's personally opposed to it, but wants to keep it legal and allow individuals to make their own choice I'm fine with that.
[ Parent ]
Sounds familiar?
Ah yes, John Kerry. 20004. Exactly the same position.
[ Parent ]
Hung-ho?
I realize you meant "gung-ho", but your use of "hung-ho" made me laugh naughtily for a minute.
[ Parent ]
We need somebody who knows how to win elections
And Kaine clearly knows how.  
exactly.


Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus
[ Parent ]
I'm kinda of surprised,
I expected David Plouffe to get Obama's nod. Not quite sure I like this as it makes Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling governor. Obama really seems to be tapping the talent pool of Democrats pretty hard. I like Kaine though, hell I like and respect his principled views on on the death penalty and abortion. This does send a good message; the Democratic party is not completely ruled by and dominated by liberals, and I say this as a pretty damn liberal quasi-socialist Democrat. The only good thing about this is it may cause Bill Bolling to reconsider his move not to run in the GOP primary for Governor, if so we could see a bloddy and divisive GOP primary, helping the Democrats who look to have a less sordid affair.

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus
Re-read the post again, dude.
Specifically this part:

Kaine, who emerged as one of Obama's vice presidential finalists this summer, will operate from Richmond in a part-time capacity until January 2010, when he will become the full-time DNC chairman. Kaine is constitutionally barred from running for reelection.

[ Parent ]
Plouffe would have continued a bad tradition
President's appointing their campaign manager as the head of the party organization usually works out very poorly.  Bush 41's appointment of Atwater in 1989, Clintons appointment of Wilhelm in 1993 and Bush's appointment of Mehlman in 2005 were all unmitigated disasters for their parties.  
[ Parent ]
It doesn't
Kaine doesn't have to resign as governor and will work part time until next January.

Technically the DNC chairman is less powerful now that there's a Democratic President...Obama is technically the head of the party.  

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens

[ Parent ]
We have to have somebody
Putting together a turnout operation and helping recruit candidates for top to bottom from day one.  
[ Parent ]
Kaine will still be governor
He's going to head the DNC part-time out of Richmond for a year.

Incidentally, I'm hardly excited about this choice and can't quite say that I share your enthusiasm that he's a DLC dead-ender, but he's a smart politician and it could be much, much worse.

22, Democrat, AZ-01
Peace. Love. Gabby.

[ Parent ]
Here's a better choice
BRIAN SCHWEITZER!

Argh, friggin' Kaine. Low-wattage!

Delaware Liberal - biggest and best blog in Delaware.

DAVE FREUDENTHAL
LOL

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
Okay
You actually made me guffaw with that one. Well done.
[ Parent ]
Haha
Nice to be of service, bringing humor to people.  Though, to be honest, I'm not really sure how myself.

I kinda wrote that for the fun of it, on some vaguely-defined impressions based on what I've heard people here say that he's not done much to build the Wyoming Democratic Party and took forever to endorse Trauner.

(Candid question: Is that why it was funny?)

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01

[ Parent ]
Uh
Well, it was funny because Freudenthal is about the most reluctant Democrat in the country. Having him as DNC chair would be farcical beyond belief.
[ Parent ]
Honestly, I don't see the big deal
Heading the DNC is all about raising $$$ which Kaine has proven he can do.  His political views don't really matter at all.  

To bring in a sports analogy.  Say you have a football coach that is excellent at coaching offense but can't coach defense for his life.  Make him your head coach and his defensive ineptitude is a big deal.  He would probably make a poor coach.  But find him a position as an offensive coordinator and he can thrive.  The only thing he is in charge of now is something he's good at.

Kaine is great at raising money and getting people to vote D.  Put him in a position where this is the only thing he does, and you have a decent candidate to lead the DNC.

VA-Gov: Tim Kaine to Head DNC | 46 comments

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