Has it really been 500 days already since Tim Kaine was inaugurated to succeed Mark Warner as governor? I hadn't been counting, but over at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, apparently they have been. It's a very favorable article, by the way. For instance, take this excerpt:
I call it the serendipity factor in politics," said political analyst Larry J. Sabato, who mentioned the presidential responses of Ronald Reagan to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, Bill Clinton to the Oklahoma City bombing and Bush to the Sept. 11 attacks."Events are in the saddle, and people see what politicians are made of when thrown a curve," said Sabato, who teaches at the University of Virginia.
"Kaine did extraordinarily well with Virginia Tech; every note was perfect. He was in Governor Mark Warner's shadow. His poll ratings were in the mid-50s; now private polls have him around 70. That's good news for Democrats and bad news for Republicans this fall."
Said Sen. R. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania: "He's been tested with fire working against a recalcitrant House GOP caucus. I think he has done extremely well; he's the first governor since Gerald Baliles in 1986 to take the transportation issue and see it to finality. He was relentless."
Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, said he could not be prouder of the way Kaine handled the Tech shootings.
"And then the back-to-back public-relations coups that we haven't seen in a decade, with the visits of the queen of England and President Bush," Watkins said.
"Those are the sorts of things that put Virginia on the map."
Later in the article, Sabato adds, "Just like Warner, Tim Kaine is the second Democrat in a row who triumphed over the GOP legislature." Sabato concludes that Kaine is "well-positioned to make a mark unless the economy weakens."
It will be interesting to see if Not Not Larry Sabato's predictions prove to be correct. Personally, I'm sure as heck not betting against Tim Kaine!
You are the man, and we need more folks like you!!
Matusleo
Ut Prosim