Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Governor must still play for our team
Read Shanna's blog
Shanna Flowers is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.
Shanna Flowers
Recent columns
It looks as if Tim Kaine finally hit pay dirt.
Last summer, the Virginia governor's name was floated as a potential running mate for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. After Obama's election in November, Kaine's name surfaced for U.S. attorney general and education secretary.
Now, as president-elect, Obama has asked Kaine to serve as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Is anyone really surprised?
If Kaine's name bounced around long enough, he was bound to land something.
After all, he was one of the first governors to back Obama two years ago over front-runner and presumed nominee Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race.
The men became fast friends in 2005 during the Virginia gubernatorial race, and Kaine served as national co-chairman of Obama's campaign and stumped vigorously for the candidate.
The 50-year-old governor sealed the deal when he delivered Virginia to a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in 44 years.
The post essentially would make Kaine pitchman for the president's policies.
The new DNC chairman will be responsible for reinforcing the White House message and preparing for the 2010 congressional elections, in which Democrats will try to defend their majorities in the House and Senate, and gain a filibuster-proof majority in the latter chamber.
Obama has plucked a party operative to be in charge of the DNC's day-to-day operation and fundraising, freeing the governor to perform his state office duties until his term expires in 2010.
The president-elect could do far worse. Kaine is an affable guy and impressive politician, credited with building the party.
In a once GOP-dominated state, he rose rapidly from city councilman in Richmond to lieutenant governor and then governor. Helped by gaffes from George Allen, Kaine helped Jim Webb capture what had looked like a safe GOP U.S. Senate seat.
This fall, former Gov. Mark Warner won the other Senate seat from John Warner, who is retiring.
But don't let Kaine's smile or his eager-beaver personality fool you. He is no pushover, either. That showed when he was on the campaign trail for Obama, a fellow Harvard Law School alum.
In one memorable exchange on a cable TV show, Kaine said of Obama's Republican rival John McCain, "He couldn't count high enough, apparently, to even know how many houses he owned."
Kaine couldn't be any worse as national party leader than former Gov. Jim Gilmore. The taciturn Republican was appointed chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2001, his last year as governor. But like his tenure with the General Assembly, Gilmore squabbled with his own party leaders and lasted only a year.
Gilmore and former Gov. Doug Wilder, who ran unsuccessfully for president, suffered when they ascended to the national stage. Virginians accused them of being more interested in national politics than their jobs in Richmond.
It can't hurt Virginia for its governor to have the president's ear. But Kaine must avoid the downfall of his predecessors. With a teetering economy and a $3 billion budget shortfall, Kaine's priority should be inside his own state -- and not the Washington beltway.
