Virginia Tomorrow

What a week-end!

On Saturday, Terry McAuliffe, the former Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) officially announced that he is seeking to be the next Governor of Virginia. 

On Sunday, the sitting Governor of Virginia, Tim Kaine, was chosen as the next chair of the DNC.

What’s up Monday for Virginia? I’m waiting for former Lieutenant Governor Don Beyer’s name to be floated as Commerce Secretary now that Bill Richardson won’t be assuming the position.

Seriously, Kaine’s selection as DNC Chair is well deserved. He was the first Governor outside of Obama’s home state of Illinois to endorse his presidential bid (and surely the President-Elect prefers to be talking about Kaine than Blago at the moment).

He worked tirelessly for Obama around the country. And helping to turn a red state blue for the first time in 44 years was a decisive contribution to the Democratic victory.

Still, the choice of Kaine as chair of the DNC illustrates how unpredictable politics can be and how individual careers evolve in unexpected ways.

When I first met him, Tim Kaine was working as a civil rights attorney and had just been elected to the Richmond City Council.

Professionally, Kaine was a skilled courtroom advocate and litigator who was dedicated to using his talents to serve clients who felt that they had not been given a fair shake. Most notably, he was lead attorney on a large housing discrimination suit that resulted in a multimillion dollar judgment on behalf of his clients against a major national insurance company.

Politically, however, Kaine was a mediator, a bridge builder and a problem solver, anything but a partisan litigator. He  dedicated himself to overcoming a history of bitterness and racial division on Council that had rendered it dysfunctional and impaired the reputation of the entire city.

Kaine sought to get council members speaking to one another. He worked to ensure that votes reflected differences in outlook and not simply the racial composition of the body. Kaine minimized conflict with other members, always looking for an opportunity to praise his colleagues.

His inherent decency made him a very popular figure in the city.

The one criticism I heard at the time was that Kaine worked so hard to mediate conflicts that he sometimes was not a sufficently assertive leader and advocate.

As Governor, Kaine’s bridge building skills were prominently featured on one memorable, indeed unforgettable occasion. He responded to the tragedy at Virginia Tech by going to Blacksburg,  bringing grace, dignity and words that captured the anger and despair at the senseless murders while extolling the spirit of community that could provide a measure of consolation in a forsaken time.

But Kaine has also used the Governor’s bully pulpit to advance the propsects of his party with an energy and vigor that far supassed that of his predecessor, Mark Warner.

 Kaine’s major successes as Governor- assisting the Democrats to gain a majority in the state’s congressional delegation, bringing the Virginia Senate under Democratic control, mobilizing interest groups to oppose Republican policies, helping to carry the state for Obama, and generally tarnishing the GOP brand - have been far more in the realm of politics than policy.  

The Governor and his supporters point the finger for the policy gridlock at Republicans, especially those in the House, for their supposed intransigence and refusal to compromise. In fact, he is utilizing this very argument to justify his unwillingness to even float a proposal this year to resolve the legislative gridlock on the state’s transportation problems.

But bridge building across party lines has not been the order of the day in Virginia since 2005.  And the Governor and his Democratic allies are certainly not blameless. Last year’s botched special session on transportation is Exhibit A.

In the past few months, Kaine has hinted that his post-gubernatorial career would be one where he could set aside his political roles and return to a position that would emphasize his bridge building skills.

Kaine spoke in interviews of his lack of interest in going to D.C. and his desire to remain in Richmond. He noted that he would be interested in running a large non-profit. And people speculated whether this category included either Virginia Commonwealth University or the University of Virginia.

Initial reports about the DNC job say that Kaine originally declined and only accepted after President-Elect Obama personally intervened. And, as we know, Obama’s persuasive capacities are substantial.

Kaine will obviously bring to the DNC job, the focus, the political creativity, and the capacity to mobilize and inspire individuals that has permitted him to capitalize on opportunities and surpass expectations at every point in his political career.

Anyone who has known Tim Kaine for a long time is not surprised by how successful he has been.

But I do not believe that, ten years ago, any of his friends or associates would have guessed that the bridge builder from Richmond was on track to become the national Democrats’ Partisan-in-Chief.