Virginia Tomorrow

You knew something was up.

When the press release accompanying Tim Kaine’s signature on the bill creating a “Choose Life” license plate came with an explanation and a virtual invitation to Planned Parenthood to design a plate of its own.

In one respect, it’s not a big deal.

As the Governor said, Virginia has already decided that it’s okay for special interests to get their own plates. If the Friends of Tibet are displaying one, why shouldn’t the pro-life folks get theirs?

But it’s a more complicated matter when you’re also the Partisan-in-Chief, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

The pro-choice activists are, in The Politico’s headline, infuriated.

In Virginia, they made 2,000 calls to the Governor’s office. Nationally, they sent 17,000 emails to the DNC headquarters urging a veto.

I guess that I would offer an explanation too.

Kaine’s argument about equal treatment for all groups that organize on behalf of a license plate makes good sense in the context of his job as Governor. Though why the state has gotten itself into the politicization of license plates is another matter.

But the gubernatorial justification and even the equal treatment argument is unlikely to be very persuasive to pro-choice activists in D.C. who have been battling the pro-lifers for more than thirty years now.

In the Washington culture, a victory for one side is a loss for another.

Why would the DNC Chair be orchestrating a pro-life victory?

  As NARAL President Nancy Keenan put it, “Governor Kaine has opted to sign a bill that advances a divisive political ideology at the expense of women’s health.”

When Tim Kaine accepted the job as DNC Chair, he told President Obama that he was not the kind of political figure who wanted to advance ideology at all costs and and confront the Republicans on every issue.

As Obama said during the campaign, it’s time to change the culture in Washington.

But Tim Kaine is discovering that Washington activists are not very interested in culture change and are none too happy with a DNC Chair that won’t go the mat with them on an issue where the parties are fundamentally divided.