Posted on 01/30/2006 4:09:08 PM PST by NormsRevenge
ARLINGTON, Va. - Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, tapped to deliver the State of the Union response for Democrats, has sharp words for both parties in Washington: Stop being so partisan, negative and irrelevant. "There's a better way," he said Monday.
Less than three weeks after taking office, Kaine is a rising star inside his party because he succeeded last November where many other Democrats have failed — in a Southern state and in the fast-growing exurbs.
"I want to contrast what I consider to be an administration that is super partisan and not really able to deliver results with a different model, a better way, which is what we've been doing in Virginia and other states," Kaine said, previewing his Tuesday night speech in an interview with The Associated Press.
"Results matter. Planning matters. Management matters, and you can make much more progress if you do it in a bipartisan way," he said.
That was a dig at the president, but Kaine said Democrats in Washington also could learn from the success achieved by him and 11 other Democratic governors who run states that Bush carried in 2004.
"I think we have to be much more about an optimistic and positive message," Kaine said of his fellow Democrats, an assessment that will not be part of Tuesday night's speech. "I think sometimes we perfect the criticism without a positive, forward-looking message."
"I think it's all about talking to people about the issues that really matter to them, which is what successful governors tend to do. They became successful in campaigns because they talk about real basic things and don't get off on insider issues and purely social causes — the strength of the economy, the power of education, health care needs and health care solutions," Kaine said.
He ran as a moderate and promised better roads and tools to curb urban sprawl.
While his popular predecessor, Mark Warner, is a Democrat, too, Virginia is a Republican-leaning state that hasn't backed a Democrat for president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Bush won the state by about 8 percentage points in 2000 and 9 points in 2004.
What really caught the attention of Democratic Party leaders was Kaine's performance in exurban communities, the sprawling new suburbs filled with big-box stores and Republican-leaning families. Kaine defeated Republican Jerry Kilgore in Loudoun and Prince William counties outside Washington, both of which Bush won in 2004. Kaine fared better than 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in five other fast-growing Virginia counties won by Bush.
Kaine, the son-in-law of Virginia's first modern Republican governor, won despite his opposition to the death penalty in a state that has executed 94 inmates since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, second only to Texas's 356.
Republican Kilgore tried to play a law-and-order card when he ran an ad that said Kaine's opposition to the death penalty meant he would not have executed Adolf Hitler. Kaine pledged to enforce the death penalty despite his personal opposition, using Kilgore's attack to shine a spotlight on his own faith and values. He is Roman Catholic.
"I'm not apologizing for my religious beliefs to anybody," Kaine said throughout the campaign.
His first ad aired on a Christian radio station. The first TV ad he ran in the fall of 2005 highlighted his experience with Catholic missionaries.
Party leaders said Kaine's victory illustrated how candidates can share voters' values without abandoning party principles.
"Tim Kaine is a wonderful fresh face who speaks from the heart about his values," said Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean.
But Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said it's Republicans who should take a lesson from the Virginian. "He is someone who embodies the leadership and accountability that's missing in Republican Washington," Reid said.
Kaine's speech, which advisers say will take less than 10 minutes, follows an address by Bush that also will include a call for bipartisanship. The president said Monday he will ask Congress to help him "elevate the tone here in Washington, D.C."
Kaine said he appreciates the assignment from Reid and other party leaders, even as he distances himself from Washington.
"I'm no shill or mouthpiece or posterboy for anybody," he said. "I'm going to do it in a way that I think it should be done."
Kaine said he has gotten plenty of advice from Washington. Some has been good. As for the rest: "I said, `No, thanks. I think I'll take it in another direction.'"
OH WOW. You think the DUers heads exploded today! THIS will push them RIGHT over the edge.
"Tim Kaine is a wonderful fresh face who speaks from the heart about his values," said Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean.
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Unlike Howie who spews out all his orifices at once.
It is amazing how the Dems create THEIR REALITY before it even happens. But that is how liberal leftists think -- THEY DEFINE WHAT IS REALITY, not reality itself.
One has to wonder if the Dems might be grooming a "centrist alternative" to the moonbats for 2008.
the LA Mayor is giving the Spanish Language response.
Then Virginia Governor elect, Tim Kaine, seen in a Nov. 9, 2005 file photo, speaks during a press conference in Richmond, Va. Gov. Kaine will give the Democratic response to answer President Bush's State of the Union address Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
In other words, they're going to lie.
Kaine's not stupid. He still has to work with Republicans in the General Assembly to get anything done. But this is not what the radical core of the Democrats want to hear. They want a bitter, partisan fight, and they're going to lose no matter what happens here! For if Kaine is not rude, then he divides and weakens the radical Democratic base. But if he is rude, then Kaine merely enforces the popular perception of the Democrats as whiners.
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean speaks at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006. Democratic members of the Ohio House and Senate joined Dean to sign a national petition to Congress to restore honest leadership to government, which coincides with unveiling of Democrats' lobbying reform package on Capitol Hill. Dean spoke in Ohio, a state touched by scandal in the Republican-led government, to outline a national ethics reform package, which would prohibit lawmakers from accepting most gifts from lobbyists. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
I can feel the LOVE now.
Well, good, maybe he'll explain to us why all his pro-abort Dem colleagues just got done filibustering a decent and honorable judge because they were terrified he might somehow inflict on them his "Catholic" sense that human life deserves respect. (But more than likely, he won't even mention it.)
One has to wonder if the Dems might be grooming a "centrist alternative" to the moonbats for 2008.
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Barack was also highly touted by the dems after his win.
Silly wabbits. :-)
Less than three weeks after taking office - fill in name here - is a rising star
Wow... the Dembats sure won't like this response! lol
ROFL ;^D
Gee, that sounds like the exact same message that John "F'in" Kerry brought to the table in the past Presidential election. Funny thing was, he never seemed to say what that "other way" was. I wonder if our newly-elected Hahhhvard graduate here in the Commonwealth will suffer from the same problem?
Oh God! Already starting off with the big lies.
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