Governor Kaine tapped to give SOTU response

[U2democrat]

Democratic Leaders Turn to Kaine
Va. Governor Tapped to Give State of the Union Response for Party

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006; 10:25 AM



RICHMOND, Jan.19 -- Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has been tapped to give the Democratic Party's response to President Bush's State of the Union speech on Jan. 31, according to Capitol Hill sources.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are scheduled to call Kaine Thursday morning to officially ask him to accept. They, along with Gov. Bill Richardson, the chairman of the Democratic Governor's Association, are expected to make the announcement Thursday afternoon, according to two sources, who declined to be identified before the announcement is made.

Kaine spokeswoman Delacey Skinner declined to comment, saying no announcement has been made yet.

Kaine, who won a tight election to become Virginia's 70th governor in November, is seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party. He won convincingly in a conservative state and he campaigned as a fiscal conservative and spoke frequently about the importance of his faith.

For national Democrats, those messages are attractive as both parties head toward the mid-term elections later this year.

In the wake of the congressional lobbying scandals, Democrats are attempting to capitalize on what they call a culture of corruption in the Republican-controlled Congress. That makes it appealing to turn to an outside-the-Beltway governor, rather than a member of Congress, for the response to Bush's speech this month.

For Kaine, the selection is the culmination of a whirlwind of activity since he defeated Republican Jerry W. Kilgore on Nov. 8.

Kaine spent weeks traveling around the state at town hall meetings on transportation. Last Saturday, he was inaugurated in an historic ceremony in Williamsburg and gave his first speech as the state's new governor.

This week, he unveiled his legislative priorities to lawmakers, including a push for new controls on growth and development. Friday, he is scheduled to announce his plans for raising new money to fix the state's transportation network.

In previous years, congressional leaders have chosen insiders, such Reid and former House leader Richard Gephardt, or governors such as former governor Gary Locke of Washington state.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

At his Inaugural ball last saturday


GO GET 'EM, TIM!!!!!!!

 

[U2democrat]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/19/kaine.sotu/index.html?section=cnn_latest

 

[Irvine511]

hard to tell who's cuter ...

 

[U2democrat]

 

[joyfulgirl]

This native Virginian looks forward to hearing him speak.

Looks like you don't embarrass yourself with your governor the way I did with ours. I was at an event last year at the Governor's Mansion here in NM. After shaking my hand and telling me I looked like an artist (it was an event honoring local artists and organizations that support artists), I proceeded to knock a glass over during Richardson's speech. He and a sea of people all turned around and looked at me.

 

[U2democrat]

I saw him at the Govs Mansion on Sunday and he introduced me to his wife, remembering both my first and last names, where I go to school, and he said that I was one of his "hardest working campaigners." He's so cool! Can't wait to see him on national TV the 31st

 

[the rockin edge]

someone's excited

 

[U2democrat]

Whooooo meeee?

It's just exciting to see someone I know and I've worked so hard for getting the attention he deserves

 

[For Honor]

 

[Tarvark]

I like him alot, he did beautifuly in fighting off smear tatics. He showed the democrats that they could still win in suburban areas and monderatly rural areas too.

But with the House of Delegates still tilted alittle unfavorably (soon to change if trends keep up) he will have a hard time using that 1B surplus to do some good, to improve transportation and schools.

If his national light jumps out before his hometown light, he is in trouble.

I hope he does well. He seems like a good man.

With Spitzer comming up, this looks like it might be the start of a strong run for democratic governers!

Congrats though. I wish you and him the best of luck in virginia!

 

[U2democrat]

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Can I watch that without having to watch the state of the union speech?

 

[verte76]

Wow, what an honor! This guy deserves everything that's coming his way.

 

[U2democrat]

Can I watch that without having to watch the state of the union speech?

A bunch of us young dems are getting together to boo Bush and cheer for Tim

 

[the rockin edge]

Can I watch that without having to watch the state of the union speech?

i can't watch bush give any speeches i just read the high/lowlights online

 

[Cabcere]

i can't watch bush give any speeches i just read the high/lowlights online

I'm with you there. It's almost physically painful for me to watch Dubya (try to) speak...

Anyway, thanks for the news, U2democrat! (Although I must admit to being a bit embarrassed that I didn't know this earlier...being a native Virginian and all.)

 

[U2democrat]

Woohoo! Another Dubya hating U2 loving Virginian! We're a growing number around here

 

[cjboog]

I like watching Bush give speeches cuz its funny. He is so completely out of touch with reality that I actually get entertained by watching him talk

And congrats to Gov. Kaine, I am happy for him and hope desperately that he will help Virginia turn blue in '08!

 

[Cabcere]

Woohoo! Another Dubya hating U2 loving Virginian! We're a growing number around here

Sweet! If you don't mind me asking, where are you from? I live in the Shenandoah Valley - one of the reddest parts of this red state, I think. But it seems the times they are a-changin'!

 

[BonosSaint]

Don't even need to read the highlights/lowlights. Every State of the Union address goes like this. and ends with "The State of the Union is strong." I'll take notice when one ends "And we are so fucked."

 

[U2democrat]

Sweet! If you don't mind me asking, where are you from? I live in the Shenandoah Valley - one of the reddest parts of this red state, I think. But it seems the times they are a-changin'!

My hometown is Richmond but I go to school in the tidewater area.

 

[U2democrat]

In response to a bunch of negative liberal blogs this is excellent:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20060129/cm_thenation/754053_1

Liberal Bloggers--Tim Kaine Isn't the Problem Katrina vanden Heuvel
54 minutes ago



The Nation -- Why are so many liberal bloggers up in arms about Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine being picked to give the Democrat's reply to Bush's State of the Union? There's been fury in the blogosphere about everything from Kaine's looks, style, obscurity, his open talk about his faith and his inexperience in national security. Liberal writer Ezra Klein (no Brad Pitt, last time I checked him out) vented that Kaine is "a squat, squinty, pug-nosed fellow."

Even the invariably smart and strategic Arianna (Huffington) weighed in: "What the hell are they thinking?" She accused Democrats of picking "someone whose only claim to fame is that he carried a red state" when they need to make the case that "the GOP is not the party that can best keep us safe."

But, let's get real here.

1. It doesn't really matter who gives the reply, since no one listens and it's an impossible task.

2. This is slightly less important than whether House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi chooses to wear blue or red to listen to the speech.

3. He's a Governor. With most of us fixed on the chances of taking back the House and/or Senate, don't forget this is an election year when thirty-six statehouses are up for grabs. And smart progressives understand that the gridlock in DC means many policies which will improve peoples' lives and security--increasing the minimum wage, expanding affordable healthcare, strengthening environmental protection, Apollo Alliance projects for energy independence--are likely to come from states led by Governors who understand the need for affirmative government.

4. And, hell, Kaine is pretty liberal for a Virginian. During the campaign, he was derided relentlessly by the GOP, in an expensive and vicious campaign, as "the most liberal candidate who's ever run for governor in the Commonwealth of Virginia's history." Kaine is a guy who made a name for himself working with the American Civil Liberties Union, who connected his faith to his politics in authentic ways (he was a thoughtful opponent of the death penalty), who was an honest and forthright advocate of government's affirmative role--supporting moves to increase taxes to fund education, transportation and environmental programs.

And as The Nation's Washington correspondent John Nichols observed, Kaine was "a consistent proponent of racial justice in a state that is barely a generation away from the days of 'massive resistance' to integration." And in a state which hasn't backed a Democrat for President since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Kaine connected with retired coal miners and laid-off textile workers who are critical swing voters in Appalachian Virginia.

For liberal bloggers who want to get exercised about something really important: Where are the Democrats or liberals talking about Ford laying off some 30,000 workers, the end of middle class benefits for working Americans, IBM's gutting of pension security, and the collapse of American manufacturing?

These are chilling events, and both parties (especially the divide-and-distract Republicans) treat them as natural disasters about which nothing can be done and for which no one is at fault.

If you want to know why Dems don't win elections, it won't be because Kaine is talking this Tuesday night. It's because the mainstream leadership of the Democratic Party doesn't think, feel, or viscerally respond to the increasing insecurities of working Americans.

Can't wait for Tuesday!

 

[U2democrat]

Good, he's planning on giving both sides a swift kick in the arse.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/30/stateofunion.kaine.ap/

Gov. Kaine: 'There's a better way'
Virginian to give Democratic response to State of the Union

ARLINGTON, Virginia (AP) -- Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, tapped to deliver the State of the Union response for Democrats, has sharp words for both parties in Washington: Stop being so partisan, negative and irrelevant. "There's a better way," he said Monday.

Less than three weeks after taking office, Kaine is a rising star inside his party because he succeeded last November where many other Democrats have failed -- in a Southern state and in the fast-growing exurbs.

"I want to contrast what I consider to be an administration that is super partisan and not really able to deliver results with a different model, a better way, which is what we've been doing in Virginia and other states," Kaine said, previewing his Tuesday night speech in an interview with The Associated Press.

"Results matter. Planning matters. Management matters, and you can make much more progress if you do it in a bipartisan way," he said.

That was a dig at the president, but Kaine said Democrats in Washington also could learn from the success achieved by him and 11 other Democratic governors who run states that Bush carried in 2004.

"I think we have to be much more about an optimistic and positive message," Kaine said of his fellow Democrats. "I think sometimes we perfect the criticism without a positive, forward-looking message."

"I think it's all about talking to people about the issues that really matter to them, which is what successful governors tend to do. They became successful in campaigns because they talk about real basic things and don't get off on insider issues and purely social causes -- the strength of the economy, the power of education, health care needs and health care solutions," said Kaine.

A moderate viewpoint
He ran as a moderate and promised better roads and tools to curb urban sprawl.

While his popular predecessor, Mark Warner, is a Democrat, too, Virginia is a Republican-leaning state that hasn't backed a Democrat for president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Bush won the state by about 8 percentage points in 2000 and 9 points in 2004.

What really caught the attention of Democratic Party leaders was Kaine's performance in exurban communities, the sprawling new suburbs filled with big-box stores and Republican-leaning families. Kaine defeated Republican Jerry Kilgore in Loudoun and Prince William counties outside Washington, both of which Bush won in 2004. Kaine fared better than 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in five other fast-growing Virginia counties won by Bush.

Kaine, the son-in-law of Virginia's first modern Republican governor, won despite his opposition to the death penalty in a state that has executed 94 inmates since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, second only to Texas's 356.

Republican Kilgore tried to play a law-and-order card when he ran an ad that said Kaine's opposition to the death penalty meant he would not have executed Adolf Hitler. Kaine pledged to enforce the death penalty despite his personal opposition, using Kilgore's attack to shine a spotlight on his own faith and values. He is Roman Catholic.

"I'm not apologizing for my religious beliefs to anybody," Kaine said throughout the campaign.

His first ad aired on a Christian radio station. The first TV ad he ran in the fall of 2005 highlighted his experience with Catholic missionaries.

Sharing voters' values
Party leaders said Kaine's victory illustrated how candidates can share voters' values without abandoning party principles.

"Tim Kaine is a wonderful fresh face who speaks from the heart about his values," said Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean.

But Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said it's Republicans who should take a lesson from the Virginian. "He is someone who embodies the leadership and accountability that's missing in Republican Washington," Reid said.

Kaine's speech, which advisers say will take less than 10 minutes, follows an address by Bush that also will include a call for bipartisanship. The president said Monday he will ask Congress to help him "elevate the tone here in Washington, D.C."

Kaine said he appreciates the assignment from Reid and other party leaders, even as he distances himself from Washington.

"I'm no shill or mouthpiece or posterboy for anybody," he said. "I'm going to do it in a way that I think it should be done."

Kaine said he has gotten plenty of advice from Washington. Some has been good. As for the rest: "I said, 'No, thanks. I think I'll take it in another direction."'