Tim Kaine

Last year, we covered some of the problems in the counting of military absentee ballots in Virginia, as did others. This problem has not gone away. It has just moved. The day before election day 2008, the McCain campaign filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia to force Virginia to count military absentee ballots that came in after election day. McCain lost Virginia by more than enough votes, but the case went on with the Department of Justice replacing the McCain campaign.There were filings last month and will likely be a hearing this month. So what?

The Virginia State Board of Elections argued in their most recent filing that they have no legal obligation to send out military absentee ballots in a timely manner. Restated, the State of Virginia has argued in a federal court filing that they can legally send out absentee ballots to active duty soldiers the day before an election. Restated again, the Democratic Chairwoman of the Virginia State Board of Election (appointed by the Democratic National Committee Chair Tim Kaine, in his capacity as Virginia Governor) Jean Cunningham just claimed a legal basis for massively raising the barrier to voting for soldiers at war.

Really. Read on for details.

Swing State Project sees tomorrow's special election to fill Rep. Gerry Connelly's seat as a proxy fight and preview of the fall Republican and Democratic gubenatorial match up:

If the Dem wins, I expect we'll see all kinds of competing claims over who deserves credit. Of course, the GOP will just say that the Dems should have won, and they'd be right - Fairfax went 60-39 for Obama. On the other hand, a loss or even a close call will lead to predictable recriminations and give Virginia Republicans a dose of momentum they certainly don't deserve. Regardless of who wins our gubernatorial primary, that's something the Dems can't afford.

There is, potentially, another interpretation. Perhaps it is a proxy fight between Tim Kaine and Michael Steele. Certainly the VA GOP is at a low point (hopefully). But the VA Democratic Party should be riding high, and Tim Kaine, both the Dem governor of Virginia and Chairman of the DNC, would suffer a huge black eye from a GOP victory, which is not out of the question.

In January, an 80-20 district, District 46, was won by the Democrats by only 16 votes. This may be found to be the beginning of the end of one of the Democratic candidates for governor:

This is a bad sign for Brian Moran and Alexandria Democrats no matter what the end result is, this is one of the most democratic districts in the state (75% for Obama, 80% for Warner, and 73% for Kaine) and the margin is razor thin!

We have a chance tomorrow to scalp another Democrat and help Pat Herrity pull this off. Michael Steele would get to go on TV and claim that "the comeback starts now" with him.

It would be a great symbolic rallying moment for the GOP and a wonderful way to start Steele's chairmanship. 

Could Obama's VP pick seriously be this lame?

I'm just passing on the latest I'm hearing--that Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) is moving up on the list of potential running mates for presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). While Obama's heart may go towards Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine--his head takes him to a more experienced pick, a Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) or Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Biden (D-His Mouth):

Kaine is not much better.

Prominent netroots Virginia blogger Not Larry Sabato twittered a couple of weeks ago:

If Tim Kaine is the best the Democratic Party has to offer as Vice President of the USA- I am not a Democrat anymore.

And of course:

Either would be entering Dan Quayle territory. And Quayle didn't have Stewart and Colbert to contend with.

Rumors are swirling around Richmond that Barack Obama has promised Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine that he would nominate him to fill one of possibly several U.S. Supreme Court vacancies that might open should he win the presidency this November.

Seem far-fetched? I certainly thought it was at first... until I did some research:

1. Kaine was the first statewide official outside of Illinois to endorse Obama. The Washington Post first reported his endorsement in February of 2007. He has spent considerable amounts of time with him on the campaign trail, and Obama came to Virginia to camapign for Kaine in 2005.

2. Kaine and Obama have similar legal backgrounds. According to the Washington Post:

Kaine, who like Obama is a Harvard-educated civil rights lawyer, has made no secret of his admiration for the senator.

From Kaine's official bio:

Governor Kaine practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, representing people who had been denied housing opportunities because of their race or disability.  He won many precedent-setting cases in this area and was recognized by local, state and national organizations for his fair-housing advocacy. Kaine also taught legal ethics for six years at the University of Richmond Law School.

3. It has been widely speculated that Obama might pick Kaine as VP or as a cabinet member. However, in both scenarios, Bill Bolling, a Republican, would automatically become governor of Virginia, since both would occur prior to end of Kaine's term, which would end in January of 2010 because of Virginia's one-term limit for governors. The next election for governor will occcur in November of 2009, thus putting Kaine in a position to be nominated by Obama for possible supreme court vacancies.

My comments:

This should come as a wake-up call for Virginia Republicans. After a tough convention which has left a very bitter taste in the mouth of every Republican involved, the possibility of Kaine being on the Supreme Court is something in which Republicans can reunite and ensure that it doesn't happen. Virginia is going to very much be in play, and Republicans in the state need every motivation to get out and work hard for John McCain. Hope this speculation serves as motivation.