Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Kaine this morning on McDonnell victory: "disciplined, focused, dealt with adversity well..."
Gov. Tim Kaine began preparing for the transfer of power to Republican Bob McDonnell this morning, pledging to make the transition to a new administration "as smooth as possible."
"It is important to get this transition right because of the challenging times, and I think we'll definitely set a standard about how to do that," Kaine said in a news conference
Kaine spoke to McDonnell by phone and congratulated him on his decisive victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds in Tuesday's election. McDonnell led a Republican sweep of the state's three statewide offices and the GOP gained seats in the House of Delegates.
"Give congratulations where they're due," Kaine told reporters. "Bob McDonnell and his team, they ran a very good campaign -- disciplined, focused, dealt with adversity well, which is an important feature of any winning campaign. So it is important to acknowledge that and just congratulate them for how they did it."
Kaine said he also pledged to McDonnell "that we'll make this transition as seamless as we can."
"At a time when the economy and other issues are tough, it may be a little more important than normal," Kaine said of the transfer of power, which will occur in January.
Kaine will write a budget for the two-year period that begins July 1, 2010 and will face tough spending decisions because of lingering effects of the economic recession. But Kaine's work could be overhauled by McDonnell and a strengthened GOP majority in the House of Delegates.
"I think it's important for me to make a lot of hard decisions in the budget that I write on the way out the door because I think it's an appropriate thing to do for my successor,' Kaine said. "I hope to make an awful lot of the tough decisions to maybe enable the next governor to get a little breathing room, a little bit of momentum going."
Kaine said his chief of staff, Wayne Turnage, will coordinate transition activities in his office, and indicated that he and McDonnell likely will hold a series of meetings, as well.
McDonnell will hold a 2 p.m. press conference, his first meeting with reporters since his victory.
Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also made a round of appearances on morning news shows trying to put a more positive spin on the drubbing his party took at the polls yesterday. Democrats lost the only two governor's races in the country. And in Virginia, a state that President Obama carried last year, Republicans won all three statewide offices by double-digit margins.
"It's not quite the good morning I hoped it would be," Kaine said as he opened his news conference. "But you can't revel in the good without accepting the bad. It was a disappointing night last night."
"It is important to get this transition right because of the challenging times, and I think we'll definitely set a standard about how to do that," Kaine said in a news conference
Kaine spoke to McDonnell by phone and congratulated him on his decisive victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds in Tuesday's election. McDonnell led a Republican sweep of the state's three statewide offices and the GOP gained seats in the House of Delegates.
"Give congratulations where they're due," Kaine told reporters. "Bob McDonnell and his team, they ran a very good campaign -- disciplined, focused, dealt with adversity well, which is an important feature of any winning campaign. So it is important to acknowledge that and just congratulate them for how they did it."
Kaine said he also pledged to McDonnell "that we'll make this transition as seamless as we can."
"At a time when the economy and other issues are tough, it may be a little more important than normal," Kaine said of the transfer of power, which will occur in January.
Kaine will write a budget for the two-year period that begins July 1, 2010 and will face tough spending decisions because of lingering effects of the economic recession. But Kaine's work could be overhauled by McDonnell and a strengthened GOP majority in the House of Delegates.
"I think it's important for me to make a lot of hard decisions in the budget that I write on the way out the door because I think it's an appropriate thing to do for my successor,' Kaine said. "I hope to make an awful lot of the tough decisions to maybe enable the next governor to get a little breathing room, a little bit of momentum going."
Kaine said his chief of staff, Wayne Turnage, will coordinate transition activities in his office, and indicated that he and McDonnell likely will hold a series of meetings, as well.
McDonnell will hold a 2 p.m. press conference, his first meeting with reporters since his victory.
Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also made a round of appearances on morning news shows trying to put a more positive spin on the drubbing his party took at the polls yesterday. Democrats lost the only two governor's races in the country. And in Virginia, a state that President Obama carried last year, Republicans won all three statewide offices by double-digit margins.
"It's not quite the good morning I hoped it would be," Kaine said as he opened his news conference. "But you can't revel in the good without accepting the bad. It was a disappointing night last night."
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