THAT'll make that PSYCHO, Bill Bolling, governor of Virginia! :-(

I cannot think of better choices than Reed or Biden once you add it all up.  Dodd would also probably be ok.  The only caveat (a major one) is that the running mate should be congenial for the next President.

We live in a complex and dangerous world.  Appropriate experience is critical

this diary from a few days back.  http://www.raisingkaine.com/sh...  Kaine has not been a very progressive governor.

Next, he has no foreign policy background.  He'll likely get chewed to pieces on the national stage.  I don't think he's much of a speaker.  I don't think he'd do much better than Romney in a debate.

I thought his revenue raising proposals have been misguided.  National issues are much tougher than Virginia's transportation revenue issues.

From this poll, I don't see he helps seal the deal in Virginia.  http://www.surveyusa.com/index...  Look at the other Survey USA polls -- like this one for Ohio.  http://www.surveyusa.com/index...  Kaine does poorly as a VP partner.  Missouri -- same thing.  http://www.surveyusa.com/index...  He's a drag in Michigan, too.  http://www.surveyusa.com/index...

Maybe Obama has private polls showing Kaine running better.

Now one can argue that no one knows Kaine and that's why he polls poorly in these match-ups.  But I don't see much charisma in him.

Obama has a tough choice ahead of him.  Edwards would have really helped him, I think, but I doubt that is going to happen (I'm guessing the Enquirer allegations will hang around for a while).

Back in 1896 New York GOP operatives maneuvered to put New York Governor Teddy Roosevelt on the ticket as he was stirring up too much trouble with his do-gooding crusading.  Tragically of course it backfired on the cronies as McKinley was assassinated and TR became one of our greatest presidents.

Alas IMO Kaine is not the do-gooder crusader I was hoping for in VA -- rather he is too dependent upon the old school Democratic machine in VA such that it exists.  But both were neophyte relatively unknown governors catapulted into the VP slot.  I'm I still see growth potential for Kaine with the right political mentoring (Obama!).

Boiling is psycho but IMO AG Bob McDonnell is downright creepy. Remember his campaign ads that featured child molesters?

He has been in politics since 1974. He opposed the invasion of Iraq when he was still in the House. He is a consistently progressive voice in the Senate. He is especially vocal on the issue of universal health care (he has refused to take the gold-plated health care plan available to Senators, because all of his constituents are not entitled to that same level of care). And he can help carry Ohio.

I recall Brown making a Shermaesque statement expressing his wishes to remain in the Senate.  NBC Nightly News just now floated Joe Biden (He's so clean and articulate ya know...), Sam Nunn (UGH!!!!!!!!!), Evan Bygh (milder UGH!) and an "Obama may go outside of expectations and surprise us with Tim Kaine of VA".

also from Ohio.

but I've never heard him comment on the subject because speculation around him has been confined strictly to blogs. He's more of a Russ Feingold-type progressive while Strickland is more of a centrist.  

Is the problem with clean or articulate?

Obama's an agent of change running against the Washington culture. Thirty-Six Years!

When Obama announced his candidacy back in 2007 Biden commented that Obama was "clean and articulate".  Open mouth insert foot.  It wasn't a George Allen moment to be sure and Obama truly forgave him -- his response to it was so teasing that you knew he knew that it was simply Biden being Biden.

I've long admired Joe Biden despite his propensity for some really boneheaded cringe inducing gaffes and political decisions.  His "borrowing" of UK Labor leader Neil Kinnock's speeches in 1988 was a grave mistake and his votes to prop up the credit card companies in Wilmington Delaware disappoint me.  But for all that he is really a sharp guy and not afraid to speak frankly about most issues save for his credit card buds in Delaware -- I loved his quips about the gun nut in Michigan in the You-tube debate.

As an "old hand" in the Senate that would take away from the "change" mantra but OTOH Biden turned on the Iraqi war debacle fairly early on when it became apparent that it was a failure.

...and had the rug pulled out from under him by Sen Gephardt.  Sure, Biden in '88 gave a Kinnock speech (actually a very good speech too), but that pales against some of the things that have happened during this campaign (so far).

for the presidency he said some very nasty things about Obama being inexperienced, and disinterested in foreign policy.  You know the Republican meme about Obama being basically a non-player on Biden's committee?  Biden campaigned on that in the early going.  http://blogs.abcnews.com/polit... [follow the link inside to a Politico article also]  

Also, Biden has never done well outside of Delaware.  Biden got 2 delegates in 1988.  And I just learned from Wikipedia that Biden urged Kerry to select McCain as VP.  I found this story -- http://www.boston.com/news/pol...  I think you can guess what the Repubs would say about all this.

Personally, I think he should pick a woman, even one that was a Clinton backer.  Klobuchar, Cantwell, McCaskill come to mind.  There are at least a half dozen female Dem senators (I'm not including Hillary in my count).    

Biden may well have said he was inexperienced--and he was, and still is inexperienced in foreign policy--good instincts, but undeniably inexperienced.  Don't think he was ever called uninterested by Biden.

Sen Biden was run out of the '88 primaries by the Dukakis campaign well before primary time; he may not gotten 2 votes.

and yes--Very popular in Delaware. Which is close to Pennsylvania.

Great candidate, mediocre Governor.

The nation could do worse than Kaine as VP, but given the other choices out there, and given the fact that Bolling would become Governor prior to an important 2009 election (notwithstanding Lowell and Vivian's predictions of the infighting this would cause in the GOP), I continue to think Bayh is a better choice for Obama, if the goal is to appeal to the mid-West/ mid-Atlantic region Democrats not yet in the fold.

Bayh is also potentially a  bone to the Clintons.

would ruin any chance of Obama taking Virginia. Even if Kaine could swing the state, his leaving the Governor's would destroy Virginia turning blue by virtue of a Republican Governor.

with his early endorsement of Obama last year. That's why Vilsack made Kerry's shortlist in 2004 and Jeanne Shaheen made Gore's in 2000. Campaigns deliberately leak this names as a reward for helping their candidate in the primaries.

Tim Kaine would do a great job.  He's a good fit for Obama's message, squeaky clean, and can appeal to important constituencies.  There's that eyebrow thing, though ....

I'd be happy with Tim Kaine, I don't think he will be tapped. Obama was very clear about not letting anything leak out about the VP choice. I think this is a misdirection play.

considering he's pro-life? (Albeit this is one of his "personal beliefs", like his anti-death penalty stance, that doesn't get in the way of governing.)

He respects Roe v. Wade as the law of the land and thus isn't interested in overturning precedent.  You're right, though, that functionally the consequence is the same.

But if TK ends up as VP, I sure bet many of you - who can only complain now--  will report what a close personal friendship you have with The Vice President ...... And how you are one of the  people who really got him elected Gov. in the 1st place..... And what a joy he was to work with.... And how the wing-nut Republicans beat him up here and that is how he learned the skills to be so effective in Washington, etc etc  

Here at RAISING KAINE, some of the RK Founding Fathers made the case that Gov. Tim Kaine was a HUGE disappointment as a "PROGRESSIVE" Governor and flirted with the idea that the Blog site should change its name.

And now this ..... a Drudge Front page Rumor that Tim Kaine is on the very, very short list. Can it be so?

Yes probably because rightly or wrongly Virginia being in play is a big plus come election night .... though Kaine fatigue has apparently set in amongst those who would RAISE him most.

In truth the number one choice for Vice President was none other then Senator Jim Webb who supposedly took himself out of the running - period. Yet when I listen to  Barrack Obama the Oracle on MTP this Sunday he picked all the right features needed in a VP and Mr. Webb should fully appreciate those .... Things like INTEGRITY, desire to CHANGE the Washington atmosphere ... OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY but in VIRGINIA ... where RK helps make a WINNER. A partner in short who when teamed with the President .... makes for many a SLAM DUNK.

But if James H. Webb won't buy into the vision .... who's left? The last three or four people to have given the State of the Union rebuttal .... none was as inspirational as Webb .... but all are on the short list.

Quite Frankly .... as much as I like Tim Kaine, Obama needs to select the next Commander in Chief for the good of the country .... and many others fit that bill better then Rasising Hussien Kaine.

because he endorsed in a Congressional primary - against all common sense.

...that was just the culmination of a long series of profound disagreements we've had with Gov. Kaine over issues ranging from repeal of the estate tax (cost to state: $140 million per year), offshore drilling, the Wise County coal-fired power plant, Dominion Power reregulation, the no-bid/"aerial option" Metro to Dulles project, the transportation monstrosity (with abuser fees and balkanized regional authorities, now declared unconstitutional), his opposition to embryonic stem cell research, etc. etc.  Is that enough?

n/t

That he left any kind of meaningful predatory lending reform hung out to dry during the session as well, despite efforts by proponents to put lipstick on that particular pig.

I agree with most of those arguments. I thought the driver abuser fees particularly foolish. I also believe that Tim Kaine has had to deal with a Republican BLOCK mentality that emanates from Washington DC  taking hold in our state legislature. So Kaine has had to deal with that ....

I really think that RK should go even further in changing it's name .... matching it's name to a mission is good .... but not all politicians will live up to those ideals... for very real practical considerations.

Tim Kaine may be on the short, short list .... but if RK disagrees with his governing how can that be good when it comes to the VP slot. It makes Robert Novak look good.

If the VP selection team is paying attention to this web-site (as they should be) then get back to work finding a more suitable VP .... like Wes Clark, Bob Kerrey, Joe Biden,  .... somebody with a heaping of foreign policy experience.

Somebody like JIM WEBB.
 

is like "MyDD" or "KFC" - doesn't really stand for anything anymore, simply a brand name.

For Kaine to leave his term early and essentially give the GOP the Governor's seat would not sit well with some Democrats, including me. The future of the Party in the state would be in shambles, including redistricting.  I would hope he's not going to consider this but he's a politician so I think we can count on his desertion if asked.  There's no guarantee he could help carry the state, and there's no guarantee that this ticket would win.

I think Tim Kaine while not the best Governor would make a proficient Number 2 or a cabinet person (just not for energy or transportation...maybe commerce). I also think that it would be a good thing for Bill Bolling to be thrust into the Governor position for Democrats going into 2009.  First of all, it will probably take that ultra-right wing pyscho McDonnell out of the running for governor, second, Bill Bolling barely beat Leslie Byrne in 2005 and she was the supposed 'too liberal for Virginia' candidate, I think he'd be a weak candidate for Governor.  Also, we could put back that the lack of progress on transportation is back on the Republicans in the House and the governor again, that would make an effective campaign against them. That's just my two cents though.

I would be much happier to see Kaine getting a cabinet nod in 2009 (assuming that Obama wins the election).  

Biden, Richardson still rank as my top choices.  After that I think there are some good choices.  Not too many really bad ones.

I would venture to say - if the ticket is victorious - then the Virginia inaugural ball would be a blast!

I don't understand how anyone can think he is anything other than the perfect choice.  General Clark for VP.

I doubt Clark or Jim Webb or  Hillary would be happy as VP. It's a job that depends on being on the receiving end of delegation. Each of the three is a pretty much an independent thinker who leads and seems to bristle when following.  

I doubt whether TK can even help BO carry Virginia.  He's likely another John Edwards in that respect. If he has ANY Southern appeal, it won't extend beyond Virginia. As Chris Matthews pointed out in that annoying interview from last year, TK is no Southron.  

Vice Presidential candidates seldom help the top of the ticket.  The best you can hope for is that they don't hurt the campaign.  By that measure, Kaine would be an acceptable choice.  He doesn't have any negatives that would cause harm to the campaign.  He's not well known outside the state and not even that popular in Virginia.  He could help Obama win in Virginia just as much as Governor as he would as Vice Presidential candidate.  

Kaine hasn't been as strong a Governor as I would have liked, but I still don't want to lose him.  His resignation would throw Virginia Democrats into chaos.  

A long time ago, I predicted that Richardson would be Obama's best choice.  Sebelius would also be an excellent candidate.