Kaine as VP? Surely, Obama Is Only Jesting
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The News & Advance
Published: July 29, 2008
The United States is fighting a global war against the forces of Islamo-fascism. The national and global economies are sputtering, due to the subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S. and the high price of oil globally. The country faces threats and challenges across the policy spectrum, from energy to climate change to global development.
And Barack Obama, the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee who served eight years in the Illinois Legislature and has been in the U.S. Senate just over three years, is said to be seriously considering Virginia’s governor as his running mate?
Tim Kaine? Governor just since January 2006? Lieutenant governor for four years prior to that? And previously the mayor of Richmond? That Tim Kaine?
Surely the Obama camp is pulling the nation’s leg.
On the off-chance he’s not (and The Washington Post reports Kaine is one of the top three vice-presidential contenders), let’s ponder the reasons why this would be a dumb decision for Obama and a bad decision for the nation.
(Just for the record, the Post story says the other top two contenders are U.S. Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Joe “Gimme a speech I can plagiarize” Biden of Delaware. Two more great choices.)
But back to Kaine.
He has been an admirable governor of Virginia, a decent man with a strong moral compass who’s guided by his deep faith, a politician willing to fight for his programs against often-intransigent foes (e.g., the transportation and the head-in-the-sand wing of the GOP in the House of Delegates). But vice-presidential material, nay, presidential if the need arose? Please.
As Obama’s running mate, though, he would bring little to the table, few strengths that would blunt Obama’s own glaring weaknesses.
Kaine’s own political career would just highlight the Illinois senator’s shallowness as a candidate. The governor, though, at least worked as an attorney in private practice in Richmond before winning a seat on City Council in 1994.
Obama’s résumé is the very definition of “shallow”: eight years as a state senator in Illinois, barely three and a half years in the U.S. Senate, a lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago and an associate at a Chicago law firm. In his 46 months in the U.S. Senate, he’s introduced no major legislative initiatives, other than sponsoring or cosponsoring a dozen or so pieces of legislation. He serves on four Senate committees — Foreign Relations, Health, Homeland Security and Veterans’ Affairs — and chairs the Foreign Relations subcommittee on European Affairs, though he just made his first-ever trip to Europe last week.
It is the height of hubris — the audacity of pride, to paraphrase someone’s book title — for Obama to believe that a ticket comprised of not one, but two inexperienced and untested candidates is what the nation needs at this critical juncture.
In the elections of 1992 and 2000, the victors were two candidates sorely in need of on-the-job training for presidency. The records of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush aren’t exactly anything to boast of.
In this post-Sept. 11 world, America doesn’t have the luxury of training yet another starry-eyed occupant of 1601 Pennsylvania Ave.
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Posted by ( Randolph Knipp ) on August 01, 2008 at 8:01 am
People seem to forget that Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, and Kent Mesplay are also choices! Go for it! Maybe write in a candidate. It’s not like winning money at a horse race, it’s about voicing one’s opinion! My choice is Homer Simpson…
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Posted by ( In The Middle ) on July 31, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Golly, gee. It appears the gentlemen who were editors of The News and The Daily Advance who were editors in the early 60’s have risen from the grave and are writing again (based on several of your recent editorials).
Do you really want to go that far to the right?
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Posted by ( bigjimm ) on July 30, 2008 at 3:39 pm
All of this vitriol about who will be president and no one cares a whit about our local elections or who represents us in congress. The president has very little impact on our daily lives but our councilmen, delegates and congressmen do.
I think what will decide my vote is how I want the Supreme Court to shape up. One more rubber stamp right wing s—-head will just about be the ruination of this country.
Obama’s record and proposals do not exactly comfort me, but McCain’s decision to be just another party hack for a party that has lost it’s way pretty much seals the deal.
Just think, McCain and Obama are the choices of the two major parties. What a disgrace.
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Posted by ( THINK ) on July 30, 2008 at 11:11 am
oldman666, sir, sir…though any criticism of the national Democratic party is usually valid (they do love to beat themselves) I find it curious that an obvious “entrenched” conservative (I won’t use terms like myopic, disheartened, delusional, or suffering-from-cognitive-dissonance) would throw such rocks. Please, by all means, levy your concerns and criticisms of the opposing party, fair enough…but sir, how can you simply ignore the flaws, outright disasters even, of the economic, political, and domestic and foreign affairs policies of your Republican party? From the “S&L;relived” deregulation scandal that gave us the mortgage crisis, beligerent foreign policy that has completely eliminated our once tremendous soft power and poorly executed military actions that have greatly reduced our global capability and showed our enemies vulnerabilities in our hard power, to the us-against-them Rovian politics we all enjoy. But Republicans in this election, whether voters or politicians, are somehow able in their minds to disregard the tremendously negative effects of eight years of conservative policy, while advocating for the exact same disastrous policies. It’s as though Republicans have sloughed off the baggage of the last eight years, the proven ineffectiveness of conservative policy to solve economic or security concerns, to the extent that their policies actually create new problems without addressing existing ones. And they have this terrifying dissonance that enables them to ignore or absolve themselves of responsibility for the current economic and security boondoggles, and then have the arrogant ignorance to offer more of the same?!
So I will certainly discuss the inadequacies of the DNC, but let’s be truthful about which party or ideology is actually in trouble. Your criticisms of candidates offered by DNC are valid…to that I say Fred Thompson…I believe the term was “Reaganesque”...I don’t even need to come up with a pithy remark, the desperation this illuminated in the conservative movement is its own joke.
And right here at home in Virginia…I see the old colors (no pun intended) of the Virginia GOP coming out in your xenophobia with “out-of-staters.“ Well, George Allen, so touche I guess if we were to argue such a weak point (how long have Warner and Kaine been Va residents, so yeah.) Red State huh, you seem to be worried and need to reassure yourself, because the voter registration tallies tell a different story. Beyond recent electoral patterns, Dem. governor, Dem senate, soon to be two Dem US senators, 2009 Dem House of Delegates, for the 2008 election new voter registration is as high it as has been in decades, with majority democratic party affiliation. (And in case you think it’s all those “out-of-staters” moving into NOVA and tidewater, index by voters registered over a decade or more and look at how many simply switched party affiliation to Dems. Or better yet, look at the voter registration numbers right here in Lynchburg, majority Dems again. So it’s not all those “out-of-staters” changing Virginia, it’s Virginia that is changing, and changing it’s mind about ideology and society, so it is you oldman, and your party, that is out of touch with, to quote Allen, “the real Virginia.“ And this change has you and your party scared, and so they, like your national party, are playing the politics of old: fear, intimidation, and back-door good-ol-boy tyranny. The Virginia GOP, seeing the tremendous voter registration effort, especially among minorities, released a statement about “widespread” voter fraud and identity theft, warning people that if someone says they are a volunteer for voter registration they may be trying to steal your identity, this has happened especially in “minority” areas. When a reporter pressed the VA GOP chairman for details about this “widespread” problem, he said “I said it “may” be widespread” How embarrassing, how treasonously un-American, how shameful the state GOP would try to use fear and intimidation to scare “minorities” from exercising their franchise…it’s like a cliche of Southern conservative politics, and a black-eye on all of Virginia…this perhaps explains people’s desire for change oldman.
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on July 30, 2008 at 3:35 am
It’s Wednesday, so, today we take the FOXNews view. Tomorrow who knows? “Inexperienced”? But totally RIGHT about what a bad idea going to war in Iraq was. “It is the height of hubris”.. Come on! Looks to me like Obama has been setting the tone for international relations for months. Obama suggests it…Bush claims it’s a terrible idea…. BINGO!, then he does it himself. “Obama’s own glaring weaknesses”.. indeed, perhaps we should send McCain out to speak with the leaders of the world. Lets test him. Lets see if his McBush ideas draw anything but flies. For years you have been kissing Bush’s behind, now..“George W. Bush isn’t exactly anything to boast of”. Who were you thinking would be better V.P. timber.. Danny Q or Dicky C.? With all of the chunks of flesh McCain has had cut off, even if he does live long enough to serve out a full term, there would be mostly scar tissue occupying the White House. Best you concentrate your worry on his choice if you ask me.
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Posted by ( oldman66 ) on July 30, 2008 at 1:25 am
Mr. Editor: Comments made by you in reference to Obama & Kaine lead me to believe that you have poo-pooed in your mess-kit. That is in the minds of Mr. Wafflefoot, Fred, Mr. Blackwell and perhaps a few others. I can’t wait to read their responses. I’m sure you will be enlightened. Consider yourself forewarned.
Perhaps by happenstance or sheer desperation the DNC in it’s infinite wisdom moved Obama & Hillary to the head of the class. Personally it tells me how hard-pressed that Party is. And you’re questioning his “resume”? How dare you call it “shallow”. You make reference to Obama’s “own glaring weaknesses” - ABSURD - the man has told us “HE HAS A PLAN TO BELIEVE IN”. What else do you want?
Various sources have it that our “out-of-state governor” can deliver Virginia, long a RED STATE, to the Democrats. Kaine can’t even deliver on his promises to Northern Virginia and the Tidewater areas on the transportation package he promised in his campaign for governor rhetoric. The heavy concentration of voters in these areas may well have elected him on this issue. Do we know anyone else with a plan? You describe Kaine as an “admirable” governor; depends which circle one is in.
A concern is expressed about a post - 9/11 event. The self-proclaimed Messiah has that covered by moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. See - the base is covered and you worry for naught.
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