Kaine Likely To Expand Faith Offensive As DNC Chair

Barack Obama's decision to tap Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine to be the next Democratic National Committee chairman is a sign that the party will very likely continue and perhaps expand on the unprecedented faith outreach initiatives that Howard Dean launched during his tenure as chair.

Kaine's 2005 run for governor was one of the few statewide races in the year following the Democrats' landslide defeat among so-called values voters, and his bid became a test case for many of the faith-based tactics that have now become commonplace among Democrats.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[springsm]

My gosh, it is said that all the gop party is "pissed" (headline) and I think if the DNC goes this route, many of the dems will be pissed. WHAT in the world is going on. So he picks a gd southerner to be the guru of the DNC...wow.­that is change for sure, isn't it? Well I will never be a republican but I can see that I will not be a democrat with open arms either. I will see what shenigans Kaine pulls and if he is also being "ordained by God" to peddle his wares...be­fore I withdraw..­but voting in 2010 will be questionable. My gawd...fir­st that egotistical rick warren and now this?

[ema]

Tim Kaine, the new chair of the RNC. Oops, I met DNC.

[ema]

"meant"

[lavndrblue]

I may have to leave the Democratic Party.....­.......Kai­ne is against LGBT rights. I thought Obama at least wanted equal rights for all people in the U.S. but I guess we were fooled once again. Personally our rights contractually between my partner and myself can be called anything, it doesn't have to be 'marriage'.

Between Warren giving the invocation and Kaine being given the chair of the DNC neither the LGBT community nor the separation of church and state have a chance. I am so disappoint­ed........­..........­......

[Sweetbay]

Where did you hear that Kaine is against gay rights? I don't think that's true. Do you have proof?

[diogenes1967]

By Chris L. Jenkins and Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 15, 2006; Page B06

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) urged Virginians to vote against a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions, saying the ballot question puts thousands of unmarried couples at risk of losing a slew of benefits.

Kaine's comments, as well as his pledge to campaign vigorously against the measure, came just hours after Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) issued a legal opinion arguing just the opposite. McDonnell said the rights of unwed couples to sign over property, develop wills and make other contracts will not be threatened by the proposed amendment on the November ballot.

From a 2006 article in the Washington Post. He used it in his 2006 governor's campaign.

This sh! smells!

[diogenes1967]

Kaine campaigned aginst a ssMan in 2006. This corrects a previous post.

He is opposed to gay marriage though, he says in the same article.

[kellygrrrl]

"Patriotism"
"Christianity"
"Capitalism"

All have been HijackedCo­rruptedPer­verted by the NeoFreaks
It's time we take it back

[JohnFromCensornati]

I would prefer that the hi.jackers crash #2 in the ocean.

[kellygrrrl]

I think they already have

[LiberalBuzz]

Faith outreach says to me, finding a way to let religion have more say in government in order to appease the rightwing voters for the next election.

I have no use for ANYTHING that tries to include faith in government. It is a slippery slope that leads to clerics telling officials what to do with the government ala the Mid East.

[cornagainstsorcery]

I think of it more as a chance to talk some progressive sense into their ear.

[democracy7]

I agree. The separation between church and state must be respected. We cannot blur those lines.

[Xgal08]

ninosabogada, Thank you for saying this:

To reach out to those who feel their faith has been hijacked by the religious right makes some sense, as long as it's along the lines of taking care of the environment, helping the poor, educating children, things like that. To reach out to those who wish to inject religion into government would be a huge mistake. I agree - enough already. The First Amendment is still there, no matter how eviscerated other parts of the Constitution are.

This is soo true. As a left leaning Christian, (yes we exist:) I am so h8rrified that the religious right lo8nies have created such a neg8tive view of the Christian faith. There are wonderful non-judg8mental Christians in the world like myself who are not being heard which is wrong. I

[jlarue]

I,too, am a left leaning Christian.­....really really left leaning and really really religious. I want the wall between church and state to be wide and high. I do not want to see an American Taliban headed up by people like Palin and Huckabee. Progressive Christians need to speak out more. Can anyone say "amen?"

[springsm]

I am with you Xgalo8. I am a left leaning Christian. I was in church Sunday and all I could think of with what was being given as the message (also left leaning) was "what peaceful times we would have if folks worried about the environment, the health of all, the feeding of all, educating of all and working to save the country and keep the fundamentalist ideologies out of it. It is just too much to swallow this. And somehow I don't think we need to pander either ...enough already.

[NCYvonne]

HuffPo links to an article that SPECULATES Kaine will expand the division Howard Dean created. Kaine has not been quoted or even asked about this. It's all speculation.

Yet, everyone starts ranting about how they're being betrayed. Get over yourselves. Or learn to read.

[shengirl]

He's been my Governor, and before that Lt. Gov., and I have seen absolutely no signs of him injecting religion into anything political here. As NYCvonne says, this is all speculation. Why, because he's a "southern governor"? He was born in Kansas and grew up in Conn.

[AlwaysaLiberal]

Yes they do need to get over themselves. I agree NCYvonne. I'd like to hear Dean's opinion on this.

[lvdragonlady]

When are people going to understand that here in America, we have the RIGHT to choose how we deal with religion.
I am so tired of political people trying to shove 'their' ideas of religion down our throats.

Leave us alone and let us worship the way WE THE PEOPLE want to worship.

[Hekerui]

I guess that means more Rick Warren. =(

[lily]

The choice of Kaine is just one more in a growing list of anti-gay, anti-woman decisions from Obama.

Religion does NOT belong in politics!!!!

I live in Virginia and voted for Kaine only as the lesser of two evils. But the thought of him making policy at the national level is bad news for the Democratic Party, which is about one turn away from becoming a branch of the repugs.

Wasn't Obama supposed to be DIFFERENT????

[LadyBeryl]

The thing a segment of Dems don't realize is this -- there are a LOT of non-Republicans (Ind, Dems, Green, etc.) cheering this.

Many of us have been sick of the hypocritical so-called Republican Evangelicals who have falsely claimed a monopoly on faith -- particularly Christianity. They wear their faith on their sleeves and dish out hate, lies, and deceptive acts. Once a child exits their mother's womb, they considered them "on their own".

It is a new day, the light has been turned, and these night-crawlers are hiding. Non-Republicans are rightfully professing their faith-based positions but continue to recognize the need to separate church from state.

[AndThenOneDay]

Part of the conservative strategy is to paint liberals as anti-christian. One of them today on this very blog said that heaven is a democrat-free zone.

At first blush you might hear that and say good riddance, whatever that guy means by 'heaven' I want no part of.

But think again. Allowing conservatives to define what it means to be christian has been a huge mistake. They own a group of voters, fine. But they don't own the moral and ethical traditions of the United States. We need to take their ability to define 'religious' away from them. Rick Warren isn't the only church leader who should get to hold a candidate forum. That is a sorry state of affairs, and way too easy for a republican candidate.

The objections to conservatives here, once you cut through the BS, are on moral and ethical grounds. They can be grilled on these subjects at least as effectively as Obama can be on the subject of stem cell research.

You can think of it in terms of diet. The message is that being a democrat can be part of a religious american's diet. A healthy part of it. Don't let conservatives control the message - as they have through several lost elections.

[diogenes1967]

I am all for that, but all of the religions that are being mentioned are Christians. Admittedly, most of these voters are Christians. But not everybody. How long before these groups begin to make demands and to lobby for certain policies and slam them through with their majorities. And at whose expense?

[lovethesinner]

"Kaine Likely To Expand Faith OFFENSIVE As DNC Chair"

Oh Huffpo headline writers, how will I ever break free of your ALLUSIVE charms?

[Kartoffel]

And the Democratic party continues to expand its pandering to social/religious conservatives, at the behest of The One. Gays who voted for Obama have to be wondering why they didn't stay home.

[PhoebeMarieGriddlebone]

They will next time.

[Indie2008]

It just ain't fair! How are the Republicans ever going to scare people into voting for them again if the Democrats have values?

[ema]

We already did have "values."

[rejoiceinit]

Are you saying that there are no gays who are religious? It would be wonderful if people would try to upgrade their TV sets because the real world is not black and white!

[springsm]

Most of them have been kicked out of their home churches and are disenfranc­hised...ho­wever, any g/l/t/b I know...is a believer even past the hurts that are tossed their ways...som­e even find a church that accepts them as they are and who they are and enfold them into the church community. But to pander to the conservative fundamental social justice (not) issues is not something I want to do either. My gosh, why do we have to continue this path.

[diogenes1967]

Actually, there are quite a few gay men that practice spiritually even in the context of a formal religion. But this sounds as if this is appealing to fundies, that's my issue.

[Plus15]

The first Democratic Party/Obama tease as to the next Democratic National Committee chairman says it's Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and it's because he can lead the Democratic Party on an unprecedented faith outreach initiative. Were all the people who voted for Obama actually voting to rebrand the Democratic Party as the new party of faith or were most of them saying we want our Constitution back and our founding fathers wise directive for a separation of church and state? It's depressing that the new administration continues to load up on middle of the road Republican Lite Democratic politicians as leaders, chairmen and cabinet secretaries when the citizenry expected and Hoped for political change not a rebirth and a reinvention of the politics of the disgraced and disgraceful religious right.

Pray all you want, as often as you want but keep religion and it's leaders corrupting influence out of government and American public life. Sadly the Republicans employment of religion as a Party doctrine over the last eight years and it's catering to the demands of faux, self appointed religious leaders helped greatly to bring the country to it's current state of crisis.

[PhoebeMarieGriddlebone]

I agree wholeheartedly with you, but the reality is that our only choice was this republican­-lite/cent­r!st leadership OR the extreme r!ghtwing, bible-hump!ng theocrat!c freaks (Palin) in charge. Third parties aren't options at this time.

The best we can do is keep communicating with the Obama administration via his website or wherever possible, support groups like the ACLU, and keep on top of our elected leaders.