The Politico is reporting that Senator Obama's people are "seriously" vetting Virginia Governor Tim Kaine for the VP slot. If they pick him, I think Obama would be taking a cue from President Clinton, who you may recall picked another Southernor - Al Gore. He "doubled-down" on his image and his narrative. Such a choice would mean that Obama would be doing the same - two young agents of change, outsiders, new to the national political scene.
As Senator Barack Obama turns to the choice of his running mate, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has emerged as one of the campaign's potential finalists, sources familiar with conversations in Richmond and in Chicago said.Kaine, an early Obama supporter whose biography nicely dovetails with the Illinois senator's, "ranks very, very high on the short list," said a source who has spoken recently to senior Obama aides about Kaine.
Kaine "is getting a critical examination," the source said.
The 50-year old Virginia governor is among a handful of logical, and much-discussed, choices to join Obama on the campaign trail. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, former Georgia Sen, Sam Nunn, and Delaware Senator Joe Biden are among others frequently mentioned.
Obama and his top advisors met Monday afternoon at the Washington, D.C. law office of Eric Holder, one of the leaders of his vice presidential vetting team.
Kaine's position as governor of a state the Obama campaign hopes to make a key battleground and his background as a Spanish-speaking former Catholic missionary and civil rights lawyer make him a strong potential pick.
While Tim Kaine isn't a slam dunk choice he certainly does bring a lot to the table. I did a little reading up on him.
He's 50, a Harvard Law grad (like Obama), and according to the Wikipedia article, "practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, specializing in representing people who had been denied housing opportunities because of their race or disability." He appears to be personally pro-life, though it seems that this personal opposition only translates to support for the "partial birth abortion ban."
"Jerry Kilgore believes that you can't be anti-abortion unless you want to make abortion a crime, and I fundamentally reject that," Kaine said. "I've always opposed making it a crime -- outlawing a woman or a doctor for participating in an abortion. And you don't have to criminalize women or their doctors to be anti-abortion."
On the whole, I think Kaine would be an interesting pick. It might make sense for Obama to pull a (Bill) Clinton and double-down on his strengths. I'm not endorsing Kaine for the job, but it's certainly plausible. If he can deliver Virginia (which isn't a guarantee, but I expect he would help) then it makes even more sense. Having Mark Warner running for (and almost certainly winning) that Senate seat may have reverse-coattails which cannot hurt either.
I dunno. Thoughts?
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