I didn't watch Tim Kaine's speech last night (way past my bedtime), so I can't comment on what others have mentioned about his. Halting. Delivery. Reading the speech in the paper this morning, however, I thought that Kaine did a great job - nothing "halting" in his message for America, that's for sure - in presenting a strong argument for Americans to put the Democratic Party back in charge our country. Most importantly, Kaine's speech hit all the right notes for our nation as it struggles through one of the most difficult and disturbing periods in its history - presided over by one of the worst Presidents in its history. The key messages from "Citizen Kaine?" First, that government isn't about power for power's sake, it's about making a difference and serving others. As Kaine noted, serving others is a value that transcends party. In fact, it actually is a RELIGIOUS value, no less than Kaine's own calling to missionary work in Honduras when he was a young man. I would add that service to others is a value taught by Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and most other world religions. In other words, it's pretty much universal, yet the right wing of the Republican Party has forgotten - or, most likely, never cared in the first place - about it. As Spiderman's gentle Uncle Ben says, "With great power comes great responsibilty." How true. And today, more than ever, we need leaders who understand that; not arrogant bullies - Bush, Cheney, DeLay et al. - who apparently believe that "with great power comes great personal reward."
Second, Kaine's message was that government is not about caring only about your fat-cat contributors, cronies, and "friends." Government is, as Kaine stressed last night, about "bringing people together to find common-sense solutions to our common problems." This concept, that Government is there to serve ALL the people, is a core American value. It is also a core Progressive value. And there may have been a time when it was a core Conservative value as well. But, unfortunately, modern day "Conservativism" apparently has thrown this one in the trash. Instead, what we see in Washington DC these days is the triumph of ideology and extremism over common sense. What we get from the Bush Administration and Republican Congress is special favors for their richest and most powerful friends; an utter lack of basic competence to run a government, let alone a hurricane relief effort, a rebuilding of New Orleans, or a war. As Bill Clinton liked to say, and as Tim Kaine repreated last night, "America CAN do better." And leaders like Tim Kaine can show us how.
Third, what I heard was Tim Kaine framing a balanced budget as a Progressive value. Simply stated, passing on massive deficits to our children and grandchildren is morally wrong, the opposite of "Progressive." And also, simply stated, because fiscal responsibility means "preserv[ing] our strong credit rating and protect[ing] the essential services that families rely on: education, health care, law enforcement. maintaing the ability." If that's not Progressive, I don't know what is. To further emphasize this point, Kaine stressed that the way to balance the budget is NOT by cutting Medicaid funds "for our most vulnerable citizens." It is NOT to break our promise to seniors, as was clearly done with Bush's new, super-complicated, ill-conceived and poorly executed Medicare drug plan. It is NOT to reduce veterans' benefits while fighting the "war on terror." It is NOT to allow global warming and our "oil addiction" to go unchecked, while offering a pitiful, skimpy plan for dealing with it (don't get me started on what a waste ethanol is, consuming more energy to make it than it produces in the end!). Finally, being responsible - fiscally and otherwise - does NOT mean allowing unsafe workplaces, the loss of good jobs, or a continual "race to the bottom."
The bottom line is that America is in bad shape under the right-wing Republicans, and desperately needs to find a better way. In these early years of the 21st century, America once again needs an era of serious, robust reform - just as Teddy Roosevelt brought about in the early years of the 20th century. Like today, that was a time of robber-baron capitalism, wild income disparities ("the rich get richer, the poor get poorer"), glaring inequities, and environmental destruction. Then, Teddy Roosevelt recognized what needed to be done - reform, reform, and more reform. Today, Tim Kaine recognizes what needs to be done as well: building an America that replaces the Bush/Cheney/DeLay post-9/11 politics of division, cynicism, pessimism and fear with a Roosevelt/JFK/RFK post-9/11 politics of unity, idealism, optimism, and courage.
As JFK said, "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." Because, as JFK also said, "in the final analysis, our most basic common link, is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal." And because, as Martin Luther King - whose wife Coretta Scott King passed away early Tuesday - said, "I have a dream." So, let us start to put these awful Bush years behind us. Let us begin again. Let us wake up from our 5-year nightmare and being to dream again. Let the Democratic Party lead the way, as it has done so many times in the past. Let leaders like Tim Kaine - and Mark Warner, and Wesley Clark, and Russ Feingold, and Barack Obama - show us the way. Let us start here in Virginia, and then spread the 21st century, Warner/Kaine "Virginia Way" across our great nation. Let us, finally, have a government that "serves the American people" once again, not just Halliburton or Exxon Mobil. We CAN do better.