Tim Kaine may be Obama's choice

[usregimechange]

In the wake of this reporting:

As Senator Barack Obama turns to the choice of his running mate, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has emerged as one of the campaign’s potential finalists, sources familiar with conversations in Richmond and in Chicago said.

Kaine, an early Obama supporter whose biography nicely dovetails with the Illinois senator’s, "ranks very, very high on the short list," said a source who has spoken recently to senior Obama aides about Kaine.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/12115


About Governor Tim Kaine
Just the Facts

* Birth Date: February 26, 1958
* Birth Place: St. Paul, Minnesota
* Undergraduate Degree: University of Missouri, 1979
* Law School Degree: Harvard, 1983
* Family: Married to Anne Holton; three children - Nat, Woody, and Annella
* Religion: Catholic
* Party: Democrat

He also is from battleground VA and speaks Spanish.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

1. At one point, he was the mayor of Richmond.

[Cha]

4. Beautiful city...

Wonder how that went?

[DarthDem]

9. Kind of Meh

He wasn't really the mayor, just the person selected by the nine-member city council to have that title - - it's a little different in Virginia. As usual.

[Barack_America]

10. Well enough for him to move on to Governor, apparently. nt

[Mass]

11. Enough to move to Lt Governor, then, with a lot of help of Mark Warner, who is very popular,

he moved to governor.

[Barack_America]

13. Yes. You are correct.

To Lt. Governor first. He seems to be adept at being a #2, no?

[elocs]

2. Then again, he may not. How many potential finalists has the campaign had?

And by whose count? Obama is not a campaign and who is or is not on a list of finalists rests with him, and he's not telling.

[mucifer]

3. besides being a civil rights lawyer the article says NOTHING about his political positions

Gotta love the press. So damn vapid.

[Sparkly]

5. "sources familiar with conversations"

Who ARE these people?!

[Schema Thing]

6. Picking Kaine would certainly move America past Vietnam

We'd have two men who would not have been nearly old enough to have been involved.


If you think about it, that is a form of real "change".

[ErinBerin84]

7. heh

He has a kid named Woody? I wonder if it's a nick name or his actual name.

[grantcart]

8. Ok now your sources are citing Obama while leaks in other threads cite Kaine

hmmm

could it be that the want a couple of days of leaks so that they can squeeze the media attention off of McCain for a few more days,

announce the selection and keep McCain off the front burners until the Olympics start?

[jefferson_dem]

12. The Case for Kaine, in a nutshell...

*He's fluent in Spanish
*He's a Roman Catholic
*He's can talk comfortably on faith issues
*He's a southern governor (both parts are good)
*He's NOT a "Washington insider"
*He's from the Midwest originally
*He'll be "vetted" easily, as he's reportedly a "choirboy"
*He's a strong campaigner and fundraiser
*He and Obama have strong personal chemistry
*He can help carry Virginia

Borrowed from http://raisingkaine.com/frontPage.do

[Barack_America]

14. What the hell else can you ask for in a VP?

And I mean a VP to govern with, not one selected just to win an election.

And the narrative of their mothers both being from El Dorado, KS? Powerful beyond words.

[gmudem]

16. Unfortunately he is become increasingly unpopular in VA

He has done several things to piss off progressives in Virginia and his approval rating is only hovering around 50. I would still be strongly supportive of him but his recent actions on environmental issues are not too inspiring.

[mucifer]

17. and does that explain his position on the issues?

:shrug:

[jefferson_dem]

20. Perhaps not to your satisfaction.

Please feel free to add anything you find useful.

[TwilightGardener]

22. Wow, not one of those attributes

means a damn thing in terms of his being President if Obama dies. Not one.

[jefferson_dem]

23. What sort of attributes were you looking for?

I would hesitate to trumpet supposed qualities of a given VP if they trample on Barack's very rational for running. In my opinion, it would be kind of tough to make the case for "change" when you have a thirty-year veteran of DC standing at your side.

EDIT: Actually, I think some of these attributes speak a great deal to his ability to effectively serve as a leader in an Obama Administration.

[TwilightGardener]

24. How about being an expert on something useful? Like, foreign policy, or

economics, or energy policy, or national security, or military stuff--something, anything, to bring to the ticket other than civil rights law (basically, Obama's area of expertise--they overlap), Catholicism, and a climb up the Virginia political ladder? Obama is going to have an absolutely overwhelming job ahead of him--probably the toughest of any modern President. His VP choice should be vitally helpful in some area, and should be Presidential material himself. Kaine just does not strike me as Prez material. Biden is Prez material, IMO.

[kskiska]

15. Could be confusing in the voting booth - Kaine = McCain

depending on how candidates are listed.

[ecstatic]

18. LOL..I was just thinking about how much "Tim Kaine" sounds like "McCain"

[Colobo]

19. Obama/Kaine!

[Kermit77]

21. Obama/Kaine or O.K.!

America will be OK again with Obama/Kaine!