Hell no.
I don’t know much about Tim Kaine. From what I’ve read, he’s the moderately popular governor of Virginia who supported the Iraq war and who is against abortion and gay rights.
I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, if he might help Obama carry Virginia.
But then I read this:
In 2004, while lieutenant governor, Kaine was an early supporter of the presidential bid of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.).
That’s a deal-breaker for me. Lieberman is no Democrat, so Kaine’s endorsement of him is troublesome.
No to McKaine.
6 responses so far ↓
Ben K // July 31, 2008 at 5:17 am |
McKaine. Thats a new one.
raford // July 31, 2008 at 5:48 am |
Heh. But it seems accurate.
Gob Bluth // July 31, 2008 at 2:29 pm |
Richmond is a really small town, and I actually know Tim Kaine fairly well. I also know his father-in-law quite well, former Governor Linwood Holton, who is a prince of a man. That being said, I would not be too pleased with his selection as Obama’s running mate.
Much of his politics I don’t agree with. His support of the war – as with so many other Democrats – I believe was born out of political expediency and not any true conviction on the matter. He is also pro-life. He purports to be opposed to the death penalty, but has yet to halt one execution in Virginia.
Admittedly, some of my opposition is personal. Back in the days when he was a Richmond City Council member, we had an encounter during which I am convinced he lied through his teeth.
I think your description of him as being “moderately popular” is pretty accurate. Were he to leave office now, I think his term as governor would barely be remembered. That’s saying something, as Virginia gives its Governor a lot of power – Kaine has done little with it.
All of that said, I did vote for him. But he strikes a lot of us as lacking conviction and really unwilling to do anything but go with the prevalence of opinion.
There’s a lot of excitement about Obama around here across the board. Hell, I’ve got Republican friends who have Obama stickers on their cars. I’m not sure Obama needs Kaine to have a solid shot at winning here. But, the two of them do seem to have a good rapport, and friends who work for Kaine report that the two of them genuinely like one another. If Kaine gets the nod, it would seem to be more of a governing choice than an election choice.
raford // August 4, 2008 at 3:29 am |
GB, thanks for posting your observations about Kaine. I was hoping you’d have some good insight on Kaine, and you didn’t disappint.
He sounds like a typical timid Democrat who gets in trouble for saying what he thinks people want to hear rather than saying what he believes.
It sounds like if Obama is going to make a political choice, Kaine isn’t really the right guy. Bayh or Richardson might be better political choices.
Gob Bluth // August 4, 2008 at 6:48 pm |
I think that Bayh or Richardson would be potentially good political choices. I know your discomfort with Bayh – thoughts on Richardson? Do you think Bayh would be able to bring Indiana with him? Last I saw, McCain enjoyed a small advantage there.
It seems Biden has fallen off the radar lately. I had been hoping for an Obama/Biden ticket, but I have a lot of friends who are Obama supporters who are concerned with Biden’s loquatiousness – a concern with which I am quite sympathetic.
I apologize for veering off topic, but did you catch Lieberman on MTP yesterday? He is such a smarmy little asshole.
raford // August 12, 2008 at 4:18 am |
Damn, I missed Lieberman on MTP. He really would be a great VP for McCain.
I still haven’t gotten over his behavior in the 2000 recount when, as Gore’s running mate, he needed to fight hard. Instead, he just rolled over to become Bush/McCain’s lap dog.