Kaine's Versatile Appeal Gives Him a Shot to Run With Obama

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal


Kaine's Versatile Appeal Gives Him a Shot to Run With Obama
By COREY DADE
August 1, 2008; Page A5

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine took the stage at the Texas Democratic Party's annual convention last month and began by offering the standard party dogma. As national co-chairman of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, he offered the proper tribute to Sen. Hillary Clinton and urged everyone to now "come together" behind his candidate. Then he paused, and broke into fluent Spanish. The huge ballroom, which included hundreds of pro-Clinton Hispanics, erupted in cheers.

In a few short months, the 50-year-old governor has emerged from relative political obscurity to the short list of possible running mates for Sen. Obama. With Virginia thrust into a new role as swing state, Gov. Kaine might play a pivotal role in trying to deliver Virginia to a Democrat in November for first time since 1964. State Republican leaders say that the rosy picture of Gov. Kaine painted by Democrats is distorted and that his legislative track record is inconsistent. But his selection may bolster the ticket with someone with experience running a large, generally well-regarded state government, and help Sen. Obama pick up blue-collar white voters.

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Mr. Kaine, whose father was a welder, has demonstrated versatile appeal. His Kansas roots resonate with white middle America, among whom polls show some of the broadest reservations about Sen. Obama. His comfort with Hispanics may help smooth over ruffled feathers among Clinton backers. In Virginia, Gov. Kaine, a former Richmond city councilman, bridged big divides as a gubernatorial candidate: a devout Roman Catholic, he won a predominantly evangelical state. Despite being a firm opponent of the death penalty, he became governor of the state with the second-most executions a year, behind Texas. He was the first Democrat in decades to win two large conservative counties in suburbs of Washington. Earlier this year, Gov. Kaine helped consolidate the Democratic Party's return to control of Virginia politics, personally raising $4 million and pouring it into legislative races that were key to his party's takeover of the state Senate and an eight-seat gain in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates.

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Born in St. Paul, Minn., and raised in a Kansas City suburb, Gov. Kaine shares a family connection with Sen. Obama to El Dorado, Kan. The governor's mother and the senator's maternal grandfather are from the small town, about two hours' drive southwest of Kansas City. After college, Mr. Kaine finished a year at Harvard Law School and suddenly felt aimless. "I kind of had this feeling that everybody knew what they wanted to do, but I didn't," he said in an interview. He moved to Honduras for a year to do missionary work as a vocational school principal. That was when he mastered his Spanish, though Gov. Kaine insists his language skills are poor. Aides say he nonetheless loves to surprise audiences by speaking it.

After finishing law school in 1983, the future Gov. Kaine married the daughter of former Virginia governor A. Linwood Holton Jr., and set up a law practice in Richmond. After stints on the city council and as mayor, he narrowly won election as lieutenant governor in 2001. In 2005, as Mr. Warner ended his term, Mr. Kaine squared off in the gubernatorial race against Republican former state Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore, who painted his opponent as a liberal who would be soft on crime. Mr. Kaine was an inviting target: He represented two death-row inmates as a young lawyer; opposed the death penalty on religious grounds, as a Roman Catholic; and had called in 2001 for a moratorium on executions to reexamine sentencing disparities, limits on introducing evidence and other concerns. Mr. Kilgore claimed Mr. Kaine would commute all death sentences if elected. The turning point came after a Kilgore television ad suggested Mr. Kaine would be so lenient that he might have commuted a sentence for Adolf Hitler. The tactic backfired. Newspaper editorials excoriated the Kilgore campaign for going too far. Mr. Kaine took the offensive, aggressively highlighting his religious faith and pledging he would do nothing to obstruct executions... He surged in the polls during the month before the election and won with nearly 52% of the vote.


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[DFLforever]

1. I really like Tim Kaine

He was on Charlie Rose last night.

http://www.charlierose.com/home/

It's a long and informative interview. He was obviously well-prepped (by the O campaign?) but came through as smart, genuine and sincere. He addressed his position on reproductive freedom and R vs Wade. toward the end of the interview.

I think he and Obama will be great partners.