Gov. Kaine: "Barack Obama is that leader"

Way back in February of 2007, I endorsed Barack Obama for President because I saw a leader who can do something our Democratic Party needs to do: bring people together all across America. That's so important because it's not just the way to win an election, it's the only way to transform our country. I saw in Barack Obama a leader who could bring out new voters, who could convince Independents and some Republicans to vote for the Party that has the best solutions for the challenges of America, the Democratic Party.

We saw this last night, as Barack Obama erased the large leads the Clinton campaign had all over the country just a few weeks ago. From coast to coast, Obama won states he was supposed to lose and came close in states in which he was supposed to have no chance. He won without respect to race, gender or income levels by engaging new people in the process and giving people a different choice than the same-old divisions. This is how we can create a new direction in our national politics.

My state, Virginia, used to be considered a classic "red" state, with a large evangelical population and the rural southern voters the GOP liked to claim as their birthright. But now, I serve as Governor as a proud Democrat; we just elected Jim Webb to the Senate in 2006; and this year we're on the way to elect another Democrat - my friend Mark Warner - to our other Senate seat. We even have a Democratic majority in the Virginia Senate. The Democratic Party is the party of the future, and we can win all over America with the right candidate.

A reporter even asked me whether a Democrat could carry Virginia in a presidential race. While it hasn't happened since 1964, I said that the right Democrat could win in 2008 - and then I endorsed Barack Obama.

I'm even more convinced today that I made the right choice. This is a special moment in our nation's history, a moment to create a new political alignment. Like Virginia, we can create a new majority coalition that moves beyond the fights of the past and looks forward to meeting the challenges we face in the 21st century.

From global warming to health care, from national security to education, Barack Obama not only has the plans to create the solutions we need, he has the power to inspire and the leadership ability to turn those plans into action. If we continue along the path of focusing our political discourse on the wedge issues that divide us, we leave the big challenges unmet. I've found in my work in Virginia that people just want us to work together in meeting these challenges. They are looking for a leader and a party that can get things done.

Barack Obama is that leader, and the Democratic Party is that party.

Barack has begun to create that new political coalition already. People from across the nation, across demographic groups and income levels, from young to old, have come out and voted for Barack Obama. He has created an excitement in a new generation of political activists at a level that this country hasn't seen for decades. We face great challenges, but from moments like these spring great opportunity.

And Barack Obama is the man for this moment.

I was a missionary as a young man, and I came to believe that I should measure my life by the number of people I help. When I see Barack Obama's career and choices in life, I see the same calling to help people. He turned away from a career path that would have led to great wealth to pursue a calling to service. Instead of following a path to the boardrooms of corporate giants as a lawyer, he worked as a civil rights attorney and a community organizer. And he became a legislator when he felt he could continue the work he did as an organizer to make people's lives better.

He can bring this same passion to the White House. We need a President who not only talks about compassion but has lived a life of compassionate choices. We need a man who has lived a life outside of Washington to understand the problems we all face.

Americans know this; they are ready for a new course in our politics. Just as the voters in my state turned away from the politics of the past and embraced the Democratic Party's vision for the future, so our country can as well.

Thank you,
Tim Kaine

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