Barack Obama stopped by the office of his top VP vetter, Eric Holder, late yesterday, and reportedly stayed for about three hours. MSNBC noted that the top members of Obama’s team — Axelrod, Plouffe, Gibbs, and the vetters — were all in the same place at the same time: “The convergence of all the senior staff here with that search committee only further signals that the process is at a critical stage.”
And who are the leading candidates for the Democratic ticket? The WaPo has a front-page story today with some interesting insights, especially regarding the governor of Virginia.
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has told close associates that he has had “very serious” conversations with Sen. Barack Obama about joining the Democratic presidential ticket and has provided documents to the campaign as it combs through his background, according to several sources close to Kaine.
Sens. Evan Bayh (Ind.) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) are also being seriously vetted by the campaign staff, according to sources with knowledge of the process. […]
Although rumors have circulated about former military leaders and other nontraditional contenders, including Republicans, Obama’s pool of prospects is heavy on longtime senators with foreign policy experience. Kaine and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius are the only state leaders believed to be under serious consideration, sources close to Obama said.
Democrats who have discussed possible choices with campaign officials and have knowledge of the vetting process said others being considered include Sens. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and former senator Sam Nunn (Ga.). Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Democratic Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.) are mentioned as long shots.
The WaPo article comes at the same time as a Politico item that reported, “Kaine has emerged as one of the campaign’s potential finalists.” The Politico quoted a source saying Kaine “ranks very, very high on the short list.”
An announcement is not necessarily imminent. Campaign officials told the Post that we probably won’t learn of the pick until “mid-August, shortly before the Democratic National Convention.”
But in the meantime, given that Kaine is probably the least well known of the nine people mentioned in the Post article, it’s probably worth taking a moment to take a closer look at why he’s a finalist.
Obama campaigned for Kaine in 2005, and by all appearances, the two hit it off. The WaPo’s Chris Cillizza recently said Kaine and Obama “are as close as two politicians can be,” and the two “formed an instant bond” thanks to all that they had in common — including both having roots in small-town Kansas.
Last year, Kaine was the first governor to announce his support for Obama, and became the co-chair of senator’s national campaign.
What would Kaine bring to the ticket, besides a solid relationship with Obama? The Virginia governor has a lot of strong qualities that make him electorally attractive — he’s the popular governor of a swing state and he speaks fluent Spanish. He’s young (50) and a Washington outsider, which dovetails nicely with Obama-driven narratives.
Kaine is perhaps best known for being a deeply-religious Roman Catholic.
The central narrative that emerged during Kaine’s successful gubernatorial race in 2005 was that he was a Democrat who spoke freely and regularly about his faith.
In that race, Kaine was seeking to become the first Catholic ever elected governor of the Commonwealth and, rather than run from his religion, he put it front and center.
“I’m a person of faith, and here’s who I am, and you’re entitled to know who I am because you ought to know about me, what’s important to me,” Kaine told the Washington Post’s Carlyle Murphy in October 2005. “That’ll give you a yardstick for judging my actions.”
There was action behind Kaine’s rhetoric. He has served as a Catholic missionary in Honduras during the early 1980s and in his run for governor had to withstand a withering onslaught from Republicans about his personal opposition to the death penalty — a fundamental tenet of the Catholic church.
In office too, Kaine has shown an ability to speak forcefully about his personal religious convictions in the political sphere.
The most powerful evidence of that ability was revealed in the aftermath of the school shootings last year at Virginia Tech University. Kaine not only delivered a moving speech at the school’s convocation just days after the April 16 shootings but also appeared later that week on Rev. Robert Schuller’s “Hour of Power” — a widely watched program among evangelicals nationwide.
Schuller, a massive figure in the evangelical community, interrupted Kaine in the middle of his remarks to say: “Governor, I want to tell you that I am a specialist in sensing and seeing Christ coming through personalities and lives and voices, and I see Him in your eyes and I thank you that you are allowing, without embarrassment, your faith to come through.”
In this sense, Kaine would reinforce Obama’s qualities — they’re both young, smart, committed Christians, who don’t much care for the traditional ways of doing things in Washington.
What are the downsides? For one thing, there would be plenty of questions about Kaine’s experience in government. He’s worked his way up the ladder — four years as the mayor of Richmond, four years as Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, and two-and-a-half years as governor — but by some measurements, that may not be considered a lengthy record.
On a related note, Kaine’s foreign policy experience is limited. He has traveled abroad as governor — both to promote international business in Virginia, and to Iraq — but Kaine’s background is on domestic policy. Kaine has not served in the military.
In terms of national reputation, Kaine’s highest-profile gig was giving the Democratic response to a State of the Union address a couple of years ago. The reviews were less than kind, and one hopes Kaine’s speaking style has improved since.
I’d just add that as entertaining as the parlor game can be, it’s also likely that Obama’s eventual running mate may yet be a surprise. The WaPo listed nine possibilities, and it’s likely the VP candidate will come from that list, but it’s hardly a guarantee.
In other words, stay tuned.