Tim Kaine on The Huffington Post

Huff TV: Arianna On The Problems Posed By Tea Party Activists In 2010 Elections (VIDEO)

2009-12-04T23:04:39Z

Democratic National Committee Chairman, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine recently weighed in on the Tea Party movement, saying that Democrats stand to gain from the fringe group's assault on more conventional GOP leaders. Arianna isn't so sure.

MSNBC's David Shuster Interviewed Arianna on Countdown about the effects that Tea Partiers will have on the 2010 midterm elections. To be sure, Arianna agreed that the right wing fringe is making trouble for Republicans facing primaries, but she's not convinced that Democrats will necessarily benefit.

"Unfortunately, what Gov. Kaine said is only half the story. The other half is the bad news for the Democrats, which is losing Virginia, losing New jersey and losing the enthusiasm quotient. Which is so important in elections. Because there is so much enthusiasm and passion right now on the Republican side than on the Democratic. And just as important is what's happening with Independents. First of all, the rise of independents and secondly the fact that independents are now favoring Republicans over Democrats. So there are many problems for both parties."

Adding to these problems, Arianna argued, is the disillusionment of ordinary Americans, people slogging through the poor economy amidst a political system that they feel is stacked against them. It's unclear how this slice of the population will affect the 2010 elections.

WATCH:

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Virginia Tech Shooting Report: University Staff Warned Their Families Before Campus

2009-12-04T18:34:00Z

BLACKSBURG, Va. — At least two Virginia Tech administrators told family members about a double shooting in a dorm – the prelude to the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history – well before the rest of the campus was notified a gunman was on the loose.

Those details were revealed in a revised state report released Friday and prompted bitter reactions from some victims' relatives who have been demanding the resignation of President Charles Steger ever since the 2007 massacre that left 33 people dead.

Creigh Deeds Distances Himself From Dem Leadership: "I'm Sure They Wouldn't Know Me"

2009-09-08T12:30:14Z

BUENA VISTA, Va., Sept. 7 -- Virginia's political candidates joined high school cheerleaders, pint-size beauty queens and Shriners driving miniature cars at this mountain town's parade for Labor Day, the traditional kickoff to the fall campaign.

The gubernatorial candidates, Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Robert F. McDonnell, spoke at local party pancake breakfasts before traveling the two-mile parade route surrounded by hordes of T-shirt-wearing, slogan-chanting supporters who injected the spirit of a big-time campaign rally into a small piece of Americana.

Bob Menendez's Daughter: GOP Doesn't Care About Latinos

2009-07-30T11:44:48Z

The GOP just doesn't get it.

Despite Latinos' 2008 electoral turnout, despite their pivotal role in handing the Democrats this whopping majority, Republican party leaders seem disinterested--if not actively disengaged--from courting the Latino vote. Democrats may rejoice, but the blatant lack of effort could be dangerous for America.

Kaine Warns Of GOP Troubles With Hispanics After Sotomayor Vote

2009-07-28T17:45:45Z

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine suggested on Tuesday that opposition from Republican senators to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor -- along with the Republican National Committee's failure to attend a major Latino-issue forum -- will seriously hurt the party with Hispanic voters.

"I find it puzzling that a group with the great credentials of the Council of La Raza would invite both parties to send their chairmen and that the RNC didn't send their chair," Kaine told the Huffington Post in a brief phone interview. "They could have had somebody else here. And with the vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, with the exception of Senator Graham, every Republican voting against Judge Sotomayor, I just don't get that as well."

The Virginia governor's comments were part of an emerging line of attack from Democratic operatives, casting the Republican Party as insensitive to the issues that drive Hispanic voters. On Tuesday, Kaine spoke at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza, the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the country. While he was sprinkling in a bit of Spanish into his remarks, his counterpart Michael Steele was far away.

The RNC Chairman, his staff explained, was at the committee's summer meeting, which started this week in California.

"We certainly did make many efforts on behalf of the RNC to get a surrogate there but we were unable to do so," explained Gail Gitcho, Steele's press secretary "The RNC remains committed to growing and expanding its Latino coalition."

Gitcho insisted that the RNC couldn't get a Republican governor to fill in for Steele in time. Officials at La Raza, however, were not so understanding, telling The Plum Line's Greg Sargent: "The Republican Party not being here may demonstrate a lack of commitment to our community."

Certainly, the GOP's already-struggling Hispanic outreach wasn't helped by the fact that on Tuesday, six of the seven Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted against Sotomayor -- two of whom (Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Orin Hatch of Utah) had never voted against a Supreme Court nominee in their entire careers. The one Republican senator in support, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, was all but pleading with his GOP colleagues to consider the electoral ramifications of their vote as he cast his.

"We are 200 and something years old as a nation," Graham said. "This is the first Latino woman in the history of the United States to be selected for the Supreme Court. Now that is a big deal. I would not have chosen her, but I understand why President Obama did."

It doesn't get much easier for the GOP's efforts to woo Latino voters into their tent. One of the emerging subtexts to the current health care debate remains how the Hispanic community will be impacted by reform. While the topic of covering illegal immigrants remains a thorny one that neither party has shown the will to tackle, it remains obvious that Hispanics stand the most to gain from an overall increase in insurance coverage. A recent Gallup study revealed that more than 41 percent of Hispanic Americans are currently uninsured, far more than any other segment of the U.S. population. Passing legislation that lowers that number could have real ramifications in future elections.

"We don't think about it in those terms," said Kaine. "But you can do the political calculation and see it that way. The reason to be urgent and talk to La Raza about it is because, as you point out, the statistics of a lack of health care are so much larger in the Latino community than in others."

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Tom Sullivan: The Uninsured Line Up For Care In Rural Virginia

2009-07-27T15:25:43Z

This weekend was the tenth anniversary of Remote Area Medical's free health fair in Wise County, VA. Stan Brock founded Knoxville-based RAM in 1985 to insert mobile medical teams into remote areas of third-world countries. Now over 60 percent of RAM's work is in rural areas of the United States.

More than one thousand people arrived before sunup this Friday or camped out in their vehicles for a chance at health care they cannot afford to buy. Most are the working poor and hail from Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and other surrounding states. Cars in the county fairgrounds parking lot held comforters and pillows, sleeping bags and sleeping people.

RAM's event is a county fair without the funnel cakes and cotton candy, but with the long lines and wait times you'd find at Disney World. First-come, first-served. Patients appreciate the help RAM provides more than your average Medicare patient, someone said, because they have invested their time in it.

Private doctors and nurses provide much of the medical manpower, alongside students and faculty from the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University. Local Lions Clubs help with the eye wear. Churches help with the food. There were 1,800 volunteers in all, about as many as daily patients.

A RAM "expedition" is like a MASH unit, a mobile field hospital with customized trailers, tents and desert-tan, soft-sided huts erected to shelter eye exams and minor surgery. Compressed air hoses snake along the concrete floor in the dental areas. Rows of laptops set up in the animal barn register patients' personal data and print tracking stickers for treatment forms.

Wise is at once inspiring and deeply disturbing. Fifty-six hundred patients received treatment in Wise last year. So many come that some have to be turned away.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine checked in patients on Friday. He told the Kingsport, TN Times News, "A weekend a year is no substitute for health care reform... this exemplifies the need for health care reform in our nation."

But the reform will not be simple. In the last superpower left standing, thousands without health care wait in line outdoors for hours to get basic medical treatment provided by a volunteer organization intended to service the third world.

A week earlier, at the Cocke County, TN RAM expedition, founderBrock told CNN, "Nothing would please me more than for us to be put out of business here in the United States so that we can concentrate on these places where the need is so, so desperate."

Few Americans will see news from Wise, however. Aside from a couple of wire services and local press, the American mainstream media was largely absent for this year's Wise expedition.

CBS's "60 Minutes" ran a piece on RAM last year. CNN covered a much smaller RAM event the week before. They are done. Thousands of Americans waiting in the Appalachian pre-dawn to have teeth pulled is old news.

Meanwhile, reporters from German television, the BBC, Agence France Presse, RTL TV (Netherlands) and Kristeligt Dagblad (Denmark) sent teams to Wise County to document the spectacle of thousands of Americans getting their health care from a once-a-year field hospital.

When reason no longer persuades and empathy is dismissed as weakness, perhaps it is time for old-fashioned shame.

Another volunteer - an attorney - related this patient story: an older woman examined for new glasses asked if she would be getting them that day. She would. It would be her first new pair of glasses in a decade.

"You mean I'll be able to read my Bible tonight?" she asked. She hadn't been able to read it for years.

Karen Ocamb: Will Gays Divorce the Democrats?

2009-06-18T21:23:00Z

There's a fierce debate in the LGBT community over Barack Obama's signing the Presidential Memorandum on Federal Benefits and Non-Discrimination Wednesday. Some think the signing was "historic" and a sincere symbol of Obama's true commitment to equal rights for lesbian and gay Americans.

Others think that's bull and are angrier than ever at the man they believed in, worked hard to elect and now feel betrayed by. Once again, the fundamental equality promised as a birthright to all American citizens -- except those who happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender -- has been kicked down the road for some promised future consideration.

Even Obama -- a constitutional scholar and former community organizer -- noted at the end of the four-minute signing ceremony that LGBT Americans are official second- class citizens:

"It's a day that marks a historic step towards the changes we seek, but I think we all have to acknowledge this is only one step. Among the steps we have not yet taken is to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. I believe it's discriminatory, I think it interferes with states' rights, and we will work with Congress to overturn it.

We've got more work to do to ensure that government treats all its citizens equally; to fight injustice and intolerance in all its forms; and to bring about that more perfect union. I'm committed to these efforts, and I pledge to work tirelessly on behalf of these issues in the months and years to come."

According to some legal scholars, Obama was constrained by the Defense of Marriage Act -- DOMA -- to provide only limited benefits to LGBT federal employees, which did not include health care benefits. However, there is some confusion, considering, for instance, what the New York Times wrote:

"In California, two federal appeals court judges said that employees of their court were entitled to health benefits for their same-sex partners under the program that insures millions of federal workers. But the federal Office of Personnel Management has instructed insurers not to provide the benefits ordered by the judges, citing a 1996 law, the Defense of Marriage Act."

It's true that the signing was "historic" -- having a bunch of gay people allowed in the Oval Office -- much less having a president "pledge to work tirelessly on behalf of these issues [discrimination against LGBT people] in the months and years to come."

Two problems: 1) after the Department of Justice filed a brief supporting DOMA, LGBT people are having a very hard time believing Barack Obama anymore. His flip flop from full support for marriage equality as a candidate in 1996 to his opposition in 2008 doesn't help; and 2) Obama kicked us over to Congress, which is still cowed by threats from right wing Republicans. A new CBS News poll, for instance, finds that 63% of Americans support some form of legal recognition for same sex couples -- but about one third oppose such recognition. Guess which percentage wins in Congress.

We remain an easily dismissed "social issue" to be dealt with at some more convenient time -- rather than real flesh and blood human beings whose very inequality is a blight on the promise of America.

And now the president says the only way for LGBT people to secure the everyday rights granted to heterosexuals is through Congress.

We're screwed. The Democratically-controlled Congress talks a good game to get LGBT votes and money -- but they don't have much to show for LGBT loyalty.

Consider, for instance, all the back and forth on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) reports that 255 gay and lesbian servicemembers have been discharged under Obama and the 111th Congress. And, according to a June 5
Gallup Poll, 69% of Americans support lesbians and gay men serving opening in the military -- with a major shift in the attitudes of conservatives and weekly churchgoers. And the
U.S. Conference of Mayors just passed a resolution Monday calling for full equality of LGBT Americans, including a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

But Obama failed to mention that the memorandum he signed does not cover lesbian and gay service members, which SLDN pointed out. "Obama said he wants to 'retain the best talent' to serve our country. Yet he won't speak out publicly against DADT, the law that fires the best and brightest from the military because they're gay or lesbian. We urge him to break his continued silence on DADT and endorse repeal legislation in the House, or send up his own language to Capitol Hill," SLDN said in a statement.

And while a bill to repeal DADT languishes in the House, at a news conference Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he has no plans to introduce a bill to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" in the Senate, according to Think Progress. "I haven't identified any sponsors," he said. "My hope is that it can be done administratively." Obama says it needs Congressional action.

Reid's office clarified his statement with this:

"While we do not have a Don't Ask Don't Tell bill introduced in the Senate yet, a number of Senators are working on an approach to get it repealed. We would welcome a legislative proposal from the White House on repeal so as to provide clear guidance on what the President would like to see and when. Working together, I believe we can find the time to get repeal done in this Congress."

Oh, and Reid added, "If the House moves on this, I would be happy to take it up."

Screwed.

Well, maybe not totally. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
just wrote on Huffington Post that:

"I am firmly committed to repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell. To that end, I am working closely with Congressman Murphy and Senator Kennedy's offices to develop support for repeal legislation and will be among the original co-sponsors of the bill when it's introduced. In the weeks and months ahead, I plan to work with Lt. Choi to repair the damage that has been done to his career and spare thousands of innocent, brave men and women, from the same injustice."

So where are we? A few years ago, then DNC chair Howard Dean told me that LGBT Democrats were second only in size and loyalty to African Americans. And now LGBTs are sick and tired of waiting and riled over the pittance their time, money and loyalty has earned them.

Now even the checkbook activists are pissed. Longtime politico David Mixner and Marty Rouse of the Human Rights Campaign pulled out of next week's LGBT fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee over the DOMA brief.

And rich and prominent gay businessman Bruce Bastian told the Washington Blade that he is not only pulling out of the fundraising -- starring Vice President Joe Biden -- but he's no longer donating to the DNC.

"I will continue to support certain congressmen, congresswomen and senators whom I believe will continue to fight for our rights, but I don't think blanket donations to the Democratic Party right now are justified, at least not in my book," Bastian said. "The LGBT community raised a lot of money in support for Obama, and, I think he has to have the courage -- well, not just him -- but, I think the Democratic Party now has to have the courage to fight back, and when they do, they'll have my support."

Wealthy investor David Bohnett, who made a large DNC contribution earlier this year, told me something similar:

"For several years we have made significant investments in individual US Senate and House races, along with state level candidates who support same sex marriage and family equality. We are also eager to continue our substantial commitment to the DNC when we see tangible commitments with timelines to repeal DOMA, Don't Ask Don't Tell, and support marriage equality at the federal level. We must hold President Obama accountable to all of his campaign promises for change, including the repeal of DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell," Bohnett said. "We hold everyone accountable to support full LGBT equality, but more so those who, like President Obama, have made specific promises on our issues."

On Tuesday, celebrating the one year anniversary of her legal marriage to Diane Olson in California, Robin Tyler announced she's had enough and she's "divorcing" the Democratic Party.

Tyler says:

"The LGBT community is like a battered wife. We constantly get beaten, degraded and raped by the Democratic Party. Then, once every 2 years, when they need us, they promise us everything and treat us like human beings. So we mutter the mantra, 'but if we don't support them, the Republicans will get in because of us.' If we stop supporting the Democratic Party, the Republicans will get in because of the Democratic Party and their abusive relationship with us.

So when are we going to stop being the victims of the Democratic Party, step out, and act not just like survivors, but begin to really fight back? All the marches in the world and all the protests will not count until we are able to let go and step out.

This is the advice given to people who are in an abusive relationship. This is what we must do. Or the echo of our crying and our pain and our rage will only be heard by us -- until we have the courage and the wisdom to Divorce the Democrats in the next national election."

Tyler co-founded the successful online campaign StopDrLaura.com and the national "Day of Decision" hub where protesters could post actions around the California Supreme Court ruling on Prop 8. She is developing a new website called DivorcetheDemocrats.org where she is mounting an online pledge to take money that LGBTs and allies might have given to the DNC and re-distribute it to LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations that need help, as well as efforts in California and Maine to deal with marriage ballot initiatives. The site would also call for a "comprehensive" LGBT civil rights bill, instead of the incremental pieces of legislation for which the LGBT community has had to beg and wait until it is deemed convenient for consideration.

What does this mean for 2010? Who knows. But the sheen is off the Dream Machine known as Barack Obama. And Congress and the DNC -- well, Tim Kaine is no Howard Dean -- he's made no real effort to reach out to LGBTs outside the Beltway. And that Obama for America online money pitch for the DNC may also dry up.

And watch for challenges to conservative or do-nothing Democrats such as Peter Mathews' challenge to Laura Richardson in California's 37th District, which includes heavily gay-populated Long Beach.

The statewide LGBT lobbying group Equality California has raised the bar -- money and endorsements only for candidates who support marriage equality. And all those politicians, including those who twice signed the state marriage bill, have been re-elected.

Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors told me:

"EQCA has had a longstanding policy not to endorse candidates - Democrats or Republicans - who do not support true equality. That includes marriage. That includes transgender equality. It is really simple -- either a candidate supports true equality for LGBT Americans or they don't. There is no such thing as partial equality. EQCA didn't endorse Obama because he was out there saying he opposed our right to civil marriage. Until our community stops endorsing, giving money to and voting for Democrats who do not support our equality, they will continue to pander to us and then not deliver. It is time to call the question."

Will gays divorce the Democrats? Will they stay home and withhold funds or actively get involved with a local progressive for whom equality is as essential as breathing instead of a social issue about which they must be "educated?"

One thing is certain: gay people want our voice and our vote to count. Otherwise, the democracy this republic espouses is just as much a sham as those rigged elections we decry in other countries.

Mark Nickolas: Terry McAuliffe, All That Was Wrong With the Democratic Party

2009-05-29T13:04:07Z

For many of us, the single greatest accomplishment that took place as a result of the nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for president last year was that the door finally closed (at least for now) on the distasteful era of a national Democratic Party run by good ol' boys who catered nearly exclusively to the big money donors, while leaving small dollar donors and grass roots activists on the political sidelines.

While Howard Dean was the first major candidate to tap into these overlooked masses, it took Obama and his amazing campaign operation to effectively bring these folks to the forefront and win the Democratic Party's nomination for president.

One person who typifies all that was wrong with the Democratic Party over the previous decade was former DNC Chairman -- and big money fundraiser -- Terry McAuliffe. Under his leadership, the DNC atrophied after the 2000 elections and suffered through one of its most disastrous runs in a generation (2001-2005) when it gave President Bush a majority in both houses of Congress (handing back the Senate to the GOP in 2002), lost ground in the state houses, and wholly failed to push back on the Bush-Cheney war machine.

Now, McAuliffe is running for Virginia governor. The fact that Virginia has no campaign contribution limits means that the former DNC and Clinton money man is able to accept numerous individual contributions in excess of $100,000 from the same big dollar donors that helped to nearly sink the DNC during his disastrous tenure. And beyond his big money obsession, McAuliffe's political philosophy has always been rooted in quick sand, always shifting to suit the moment's hoped-for outcome. Recall these moments (here and here) when he was Hillary Clinton's chief media surrogates during her presidential campaign's free fall last year.

So, I guess it should come as no surprise when McAuliffe is exposed for being every bit the shady backroom dealer we expected:

Consumer activist Ralph Nader accused Terry McAuliffe Thursday of orchestrating an effort to remove him from the presidential ballot in 2004 when McAuliffe was chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Nader said that McAuliffe offered him an unspecified amount of money to campaign in 31 states if Nader would agree to pull his campaign in 19 battleground states.

Granted, I feel not an iota of good will towards the reckless and ego-maniacal Nader for all he did to torpedo the excellent candidate we had in 2000 in the form of Al Gore (and who to this day Nader argues was insignificantly better than Bush). But Nader's accusation goes to the heart of the good ol' boy politics that McAuliffe represents and the very type which Obama sought to push out of the DNC's inner circle.

Incredibly, McAuliffe doesn't even deny Nader's accusation in the story:

McAuliffe isn't denying the charge. His spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith said in a statement McAuliffe "was concerned that Ralph Nader would cost John Kerry the election as he did Al Gore in 2000 and give us another four years of George W. Bush."

To McAuliffe, this is the way politics is played, especially if the other guy does it too. We used to believe that if we didn't adopt every sleazy tactic of our opponent, we would keep losing elections. And then came Obama, who not only refused to continue politics as usual, but refused to adhere to distasteful political traditions such as doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to urban political party bosses to help turnout the vote, also known as "street money."

By running a campaign grounded in integrity and an understandable political philosophy, and built on the backs of millions of small dollar donors and grass roots activists, Barack Obama showed how to effectively combat the only style of campaigns that McAuliffe understood when he upset the McAuliffe-chaired Clinton machine in the Democratic primary and then smacked down a similar style of opponent in the fall when he routed John McCain and his crumbling Republican Party.

I suspect (and hope I'm wrong) that this new story won't cost McAuliffe the Virginia gubernatorial nomination. He will simply drown his opponents in ads as a result of the tens of millions of dollars he's able to raise and win the June 9th primary. Though, it may very well cost him the general election.

I certainly don't want the GOP to take back the Virginia Governor's Mansion, after the impressive runs by Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. But it sure will be hard to root for McAuliffe if he survives his primary, and I'm one Democrat who won't shed a tear if his distasteful, good ol' boy style of politics gets smacked down once again by his Republican opponent.

Until Democrats stop embracing conviction-less, big money pariahs like McAuliffe, and ignore the lessons of 2008, I'd rather lose a few more elections than continue to embrace these scoundrels. I guess I prematurely hoped that we had finally turned the page on these remnants of our recently bleak past.

I'll say a few prayers and hope Virginia Democrats come to their senses before June 9 and nominate a Democrat who doesn't leave the stench of good ol' boy politics, win or lose. Though, I'm guessing they won't be answered this time...

Mark Nickolas is the Managing Editor of Political Base, and this story was from his original post, "VA-GOV: Good Ol' Boy Terry McAuliffe." He has no affiliation or relationship of any kind with any candidate in the Virginia gubernatorial race."

Pawlenty: I'd Like A Second Senator But It's Out Of My Hands

2009-05-20T17:00:44Z

Tim Pawlenty responded on Wednesday to Tim Kaine's request that he sign Al Franken's election certificate, telling the DNC Chair in a letter that he is legally bound to see the state's recount election through its conclusion.

Trying to strike a balance between the desires of national Republicans -- who want Norm Coleman to drag the process out further -- and his local constituents -- who want a resolution to the recount -- the Minnesota Governor said he understood "the frustrations of my fellow Minnesotans who rightfully deserve to be represented by two senators."

But he proclaimed the law to be fairly strict and clear in terms of what he could do, arguing that he was prohibited from issuing an "election certificate until the election contest process is complete."

"In your letter, you asked that I commit to signing an election certificate 'as soon as the Court issues a ruling.' As a fellow Governor and attorney, I am sure you can appreciate that such a commitment would be premature. For example, the Minnesota Supreme Court might remand the case to the three-judge panel and ask them to consider various issues that were raised in the election contest. Under such a circumstance, Minnesota law would prohibit the issuance of an election certificate.

"I understand the frustrations of my fellow Minnesotans who rightfully deserve to be represented by two senators. It is important that our state have our full complement of Senators representing us in Washington, D.C. as soon as possible. It is also important that the thoughtful and thorough election process outlined in Minnesota law be allowed to proceed as intended."

The one thing that stuck out among the letter's content was Pawlenty's reference to a court ruling denying Franken's effort to have an election certificate certified. The state Supreme Court, Pawlenty noted, held that "'state law does not require, indeed does not permit, issuance of a certificate of election until the election contest in state court is completed'"

Political observers in Minnesota point to this passage as the likely reason Franken will be seated once the state Supreme Court makes its upcoming decision on Coleman's latest appeal. Noting that the certification will come once the contest "in state court" is finalized, the argument follows that Pawlenty will be ordered to sign off on Franken's victory even if Coleman pledges to take the case to the federal level.

This could be, Professor David Schultz of Hamline University argues, Pawlenty's dream scenario. "Then, at least, he has the cover from the national Republicans by being able to say, 'Well, I'm under court order to do this.'"

Click here for a PDF of the letter.

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Cheney Is Hurting The Party, Say Republican Insiders

2009-05-15T10:25:02Z

A National Journal poll of top GOP political insiders and strategists finds that Republicans believe former Vice President Dick Cheney has hurt the party since leaving office.

Of 100 insiders polled, fully 57 percent believe Cheney has hurt the party, and only 33 percent believe he has helped. The poll also includes quotes from unnamed insiders.

"Anything that reminds the public of the Bush administration harms the party's ability to turn the page. If he'd had any concern for his public image when he was in office, he wouldn't have to worry as much about defending his reputation now."

"There is nothing Dick Cheney can say or do to help the Republican Party today. The best thing he can do is disappear for the next 10 years."

"Let's face it: The guy doesn't know anything about winning elections outside of Wyoming."

"Not even a close call. With Cheney out there, Obama doesn't even need to remind the American people about the mess that was the Bush years."

"Cheney represents the grumpy intolerance that has come to characterize the GOP. Get off the stage!"

The poll also asked party insiders about which governors they see as "having the brightest political futures." Twenty-two percent of Democrats picked Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, while 21 percent of Republicans chose Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal as having the brightest future.

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DNC Chair: Coleman Should Concede

2009-04-14T13:13:42Z

DNC Chair Tim Kaine called Tuesday for Norm Coleman to concede the Minnesota Senate race to Al Franken, after a three-judge panel declared Franken the winner the night before.

Coleman challenged the results of the election in November that left Franken with a 225 vote lead. After an extensive recount and numerous challenged ballots, Franken's lead grew to 312 votes.

"Enough is enough," said Kaine. His statement:

"It is time for Norm Coleman to concede and for Al Franken to be sworn in as the next U.S. Senator from Minnesota. The voters of Minnesota months ago elected Al Franken to the Senate - and during every step in the legal process that judgment has been confirmed. Norm Coleman's own legal challenge resulted in more votes for Al Franken and now a three judge panel has ruled Al Franken the winner. Former Senator Coleman's insistence on continuing his quixotic quest for this seat at best shows that he is putting his own political ambition ahead of the people and worst that he is complicit in an effort by national Republicans to deny Al Franken this seat for as long as possible so there is one less Democratic vote for President Obama's agenda for change.

"The people of Minnesota deserve two Senators and the people of America deserve 100 in the U.S. Senate. More importantly, the voters who cast ballots on Election Day deserve to have their verdict stand. Senator Coleman may have a right to continue his legal challenges no matter how hopeless they are, but the right thing to do here is to concede defeat and allow this saga to end once and for all."

NARAL Slams Tim Kaine For Supporting "Anti-Choice Organizations"

2009-03-30T18:11:34Z

The abortion-rights wing of the Democratic Party is none too happy today with a top leader.

Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, President Obama's hand-picked chairman of the Democratic National Committee, signed a bill including state funding for crisis pregnancy centers, which abortion right advocates calls "anti-choice organizations."

Obama To Critics: "Show Me Your Budget!"

2009-03-26T07:23:27Z

WASHINGTON — President Obama headlined two fundraisers in Washington expected to bring in an estimated $3 million for the Democratic National Committee. The party is struggling to keep financial pace with its Republican counterpart despite coming off a successful election in which Democrats won the White House and expanded power in Congress.

The country's new chief executive has been ramping up his dual role as the Democratic Party's leader in recent days after largely shunning campaigning and fundraising over the past two months as he focused on a country struggling through economic recession and two wars.

During remarks at a high-dollar fundraiser, Obama tied his record to Democrats' hard work on an economic stimulus package. He specifically noted his pending budget proposal, which faces skepticism from some inside his party and hostility from Republicans. Obama made clear that his fellow Democrats should fall in line.

"It's a vision of what the Democratic Party stands for," the president said, citing his budget's plans for health care and education.

Speaking with a teleprompter but appearing at times to deviate from his text, the president defended his budget and derided the "hall of mirrors here" in Washington, saying of the political handicapping in D.C., "One day I'm a genius; one day I'm a bum!" That prompted laughter from the crowd.

"To a bunch of the critics out there, I've already said, show me your budget! I'm happy to have that debate."

Then when he addressed the criticism that he was trying to take on too many problems at once, the audience got more and more involved.

"There are those who say, 'You know you're taking on too much."

"No way," said someone from the audience.

"Your budget is too ambitious," Obama continued, describing his critics. "That we can only focus on one problem at a time."

"You're smarter than that!" said a member of the audience.

Obama said people can't wait for issues like health care and energy to be solved.

"The American people don't have the luxury of focusing on one problem at a time," he said. "They can't tell the landlord, 'I can't pay the rent this month, I've got other things to do!'"

The President said to a crescendo of partisan applause, "I'm not going to kick these problems down the road for another four years, another eight years!"

Obama has shied from overtly partisan activities since taking office, mindful that engaging in Democratic politics while the country was ailing would leave him vulnerable to criticism and, perhaps, run counter to his call for bipartisanship in Washington.

But, over the past week, Obama activated his grass-roots campaign apparatus, Organizing for America, and its almost 14 million e-mail address list to put pressure on Congress to back his budget proposal. And, now, the party's standard-bearer is jumping with both feet into the game, largely out of necessity.

He addressed a big-donor audience _ with tickets costing $30,400 per couple _ at the National Women in the Arts Museum before appearing at the Warner Theater, where singer Tony Bennett was to perform. Tickets for that event range from $100 to $250 to $1,000.

Democrats said both events were sold out.

DNC Forms Commission To Reform Nominating Process

2009-03-24T00:30:14Z

President Obama has been in the White House for only two months and three days, but his strategists at the Democratic National Committee are already looking ahead to 2012.

Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, the chairman of the D.N.C., announced Monday evening the formation of a 37-member commission to study the party's primary and caucus calendar for the next election. It may seem like a foregone conclusion that Mr. Obama will be the party's nominee, but (to borrow a cliché) three years is a political eternity, so Democratic leaders are setting up a system to get ready for 2012.

Democrats Raise Only $3.2 Million In February

2009-03-20T18:00:57Z

WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee raised $3.2 million in February, a strikingly low take for a financial juggernaut led by President Barack Obama and his legions of grass-roots supporters who helped him shatter campaign fundraising records.

Even the committee's Republican counterpart raised more _ $5.1 million _ last month and did so under more difficult circumstances. The GOP was coming off of a disastrous election in which it lost the White House and saw its numbers in Congress shrink further. New GOP chairman Michael Steele also had a rocky start.

Trudi Loh: Where in the World is Gov. Tim Kaine?

2009-02-22T14:44:46Z

I would like to put out an all points bulletin on Chairman Tim Kaine.

We are now more than a month into Barack Obama's presidency and there is little or no evidence that a national Democratic Party structure exists. Gov. Kaine, who was appointed Chairman of the Democratic Party by President Obama on January 8th, has been missing in action. He was nowhere to be seen during the battle to pass the stimulus bill. He was nowhere to be seen during the public relations fiascos that surrounded the withdrawals of several cabinet appointees. He is nowhere to be seen now as the President sets about attempting to move his agenda and convince the American people that we have turned the corner and their lives are going to begin to improve.

What's up with that?

I know that President Obama has been busy, what with finding the lights switches and passing legislation to save an economy that is in possibly the worst downward spiral in history. I know that President Obama likes to think of himself as post-partisan. I know he wants to engage the American people directly -- much as he did during the campaign. But seriously, Mr. President, this isn't going to work.

When public and congressional support for the stimulus package began to falter -- owing largely to the Congressional Republicans having an identity crisis and putting positioning themselves for 2010 before saving the country's economy -- the President appeared to be caught back on heels for at least one full news cycle. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was everywhere on the news complaining loudly about tax increases and out of control spending. And from the Democrats came... silence. It wasn't until the following day that someone finally stepped up to a microphone and said, " hey, wait a minute, wasn't it you guys, who controlled not just the White House and at least one of the Chambers of Congress for the last eight years who drove this economy into the ditch? Wasn't it you guys who dismantled most of the regulatory framework that might have prevented much of the financial industry mess that we now face? " And the person who stepped up was the President himself. And then President Obama jumped into Air Force one and left Washington to make his case to the American people. It worked. This time.

However, as you have no doubt noticed, Mr. President, your day job keeps you rather busy. The succession of emails from -- wherever they are coming from -- that denote BarackObama.com as the sender, are an inadequate way to for a President, and leader of his party, to communicate. You can twitter and tweet and facebook and youtube all you want but you also are going to need a party structure and stable of surrogate speakers to move your agenda.

In the late 1990's and the 2000 election, Democrats lost the battle of communicating at least in part because the right wing had talk radio and Drudge (putting aside for the moment the mainstream media's rather odd sense of its obligation to report in a "balanced" way). We recovered ground in those areas with the addition of the Huffington Post, the DailyKos and a host of other less well-known blogs and websites, as well as the increased prominence of commentators like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. However, we now are in danger of losing a similar battle if we allow the party structure to atrophy. Just as you can disagree without being disagreeable, you can use the party structure without being partisan.

It is up to you, Mr. President, to revitalize and grow your party and not to continue to brand it BarackObama.com. Perhaps that increases your personal connection with the people who supported your campaign and, in some sense, your political capital. However, you need to spend some of that capital now to revitalize the Democratic Party and move your agenda.

What are you saving it for -- a run for higher office?

Steele's Bling Bling Talk: Kaine Levels The Axe (VIDEO)

2009-02-10T18:45:45Z

For what seems like the first time since he took over the reins of the DNC, Tim Kaine is taking the axe to the opposition. The Virginia Democrat called out RNC Chairman Michael Steele Tuesday for referring to the stimulus package as "bling bling."

"I got to say it is insulting to people that one of the core three elements of this plan ... is tax relief for working families that make $150,000 or less. And tax credits so they can better afford to send their kids to college. You know, what's bling bling about that? I mean, it sounds like tax cuts are okay if it's for the wealthiest or biggest businesses but offering them to 90% of American working families, suddenly that's a bad thing. I don't get it. Infrastructure spending, fix the roads and bridges and retrofit schools and buildings so they can save on energy costs? What's wrong with that? What's wrong with trying to make sure that the millions of people that lost their jobs in the last two months, three months will have unemployment benefits and Medicaid? So I hear them using the phrases that are inside the beltway phrases but I ask them, what are they talking about? In that that's not what this bill is."

The remarks come at a time when Democrats from the White House on down seem to be reading off a more aggressive script for defending the stimulus. Whether this is a coordinated effort (likely) or the party simply feeling liberated by Obama's new posture (also possible) is of secondary concern to defenders of the stimulus package, who have been waiting several weeks for a more combative approach.

Kaine has generally kept to the bipartisan message that helped propel him into Obama's inner circle and made him the president's choice to head up the DNC. But during his round of appearances on cable news Tuesday, he seemed comfortable making the case for the stimulus and taking the gloves off when it came to Steele. Here, courtesy of the RNC, is a clip of the two squaring off in a largely-wonky debate over the recovery package.

Kaine Makes Stimulus Pitch To Obama's Army

2009-02-06T17:08:57Z

Gov Tim Kaine just put out his first video as chairman of the DNC -- to be shown during the 3,000 plus tow nhall meetings organized by Obama supporters -- making the case for the passage of the stimulus by highlighting the dire, current economic landscape.

Much of the video is a background of the legislative debates and wonky details surrounding the recovery package. Kaine also takes a few of the 30,000 questions submitted after earlier meetings.

The video is accompanied by an email, instructing recipients to show the video "during your Economic Recovery House Meeting, then encourage your guests to ask their own questions and share their personal stories."

Read more: Tim Kaine, Kaine Video, Dnc, Politics News

Are Donated Light Bulbs A "Major Step Forward" For Virginia?

2009-01-27T17:13:27Z

Yesterday Gov. Kaine applauded Virginia's electrical co-ops for donating energy efficient lights to Virginia State Parks, hailing it as "a major step forward" for Virginia.

Right now, Dominion Virginia Power, with Governor Kaine's blessing, is building a 585-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Wise County. This power plant will spew out as much pollution as nearly a million cars, roughly the same number of cars driven in the metro Richmond area. Calling the removal of 94 cars-worth of emissions a major stride for Virginia is, well, ridiculous.

Blaise Nutter: We'll Miss The Vermont Rebel Yell

2009-01-12T15:46:05Z

There's a story on Politico, discussing outgoing DNC chair Howard Dean's absence from Tim Kaine's press conference. The speculation is that Obama and Rahm Emanuel are basically giving Dean the back of their hand and walking away, which is a pity, because Dean is at least partly responsible for the big Democratic turnaround over the last four years.

Remember when we all complained that Democrats had no spine? When he ran for president in 2004, Howard Dean had spine to spare. The man denounced the war in Iraq, kind of like that Obama fellow, made health care a real issue again, and he campaigned with a fire and passion that we hadn't seen in a politician in years. Up to then, candidates just played it safe and kept their passions beneath the belt, but not Dean. His famous scream after losing the Iowa Caucus probably buried him, yes, but at least this Vermont physician's rebel yell was heard far and wide. Democrats would matter again soon, if they actually cared.

Kerry never had a chance to beat Bush, partly because he played it safe. He was the "default" for the Democratic Party: a noble loser with no backbone and no passion. He lost nobly and, not coincidentally, his best speech by far was his concession. Democrats are proud losers, most of the time, but not the Good Doctor Dean.

Dean also has to be given credit for kick-starting the Democratic Online Machine, for what it is. Online fundraising, blogs, social networks -- these were all part of Dean's big new way of campaigning, and soon everybody else was following suit. Dean was the first online candidate, who grew his support on an online grassroot network. The Democratic Party would not have the huge online advantage it has today if it weren't for Dean's original push. And Obama certainly knocked McCain (and Hillary) out of the park in terms of online organization and fundraising. People are still getting emails from Obama and Plouffe asking for donations. Who should get credit for that? Not just the Facebook dude.

Finally, we've got the 50 State Strategy. Another Kerry gaffe was simply going for the Blue States and crossing his fingers. Not a chance there. Dean saw the map differently. He knew that it wasn't so long ago that Democrats could take Virginia and Ohio and Florida, without it being a huge upset. Without the two years of ground work Dean put in as DNC chair after the 2004 election, the Democratic Party might not have captured those states in 2008.

Now, nobody deserves a cabinet position; no, these jobs should go to the best possible candidate. But Obama shouldn't dismiss Dean's contributions. The Politico story quotes a friend of Emanuel on the new Chief of Staff's thought process, saying:

"I talk to Rahm every day," said the friend. "Neither he nor I have mentioned the name of Howard Dean. It's just not on his radar screen."

That's precisely the problem. Forget what got you there, and you might just be leaving sooner than you thought. Can Kaine bring that same passion, that forethought to get online, that strategy that blew open the map? We'll find out, but I doubt we'll ever see him scream.

Obama Welcomes Kaine To DNC, Praises Dean's Legacy

2009-01-08T17:11:44Z

Barack Obama heaped praise on incoming DNC Chairman Tim Kaine during a press conference with the Virginia Governor at the party's headquarters on Thursday. Arguing that Kaine was the right type of inclusive figure to help lead the party going forward, the president-elect promised to "build a movement for change that can go beyond a single election."

But as Obama and Kaine beamed about the party's future, noticeably absent was the man who defined the recent past. Howard Dean was traveling as his successor was introduced. But the Vermont Governor was not left out entirely from the proceedings.

Said Obama: "For nearly four years Howard has served our party and our nation as a visionary and effective leader. He launched a 50 state strategy that made Democrats competitive in places they hadn't been for years... Howard deserve enormous credit for helping usher in a new era in Washington."

Kaine echoed many of the compliments and promised to build off the legacy and ethos that Dean brought to the party.

With no questions afforded to the press, the event was far more pomp and circumstance than hard news. Kaine promised a three-prong approach during his tenure: "Promote this president's agenda, carry the proud banner of a proud party, and work to engage citizens in new ways..."

Obama, meanwhile, painted the incoming and outgoing DNC Chairs as cut from the same -- and his own -- political cloth.

"Tim [Kaine] knows that breaking free of the old orthodoxies and reaching across party line isn't just a way to build the Democratic Party but a way to achieve progress for all Americans," he said.

If there was one potential slip-up, or at the very least a hook for GOP critique, it came early in the event, when Obama discussed the need for the party to shed its "ingrained habits, like taking money from federal lobbyists and special interests and relying instead on donations from ordinary Americans."

The knock on Kaine, at least from the Republican perspective, is that he is tied too closely to corporate interests to fit with Obama's message. Earlier this week, the RNC blasted out a story from Bloomberg News noting that Kaine serves as "chairman of the Southern Governors' Association, a group that raises money from tobacco, oil, energy and pharmaceutical companies in exchange for access to governors and other state officials."

New DNC Head Kaine Offers Corporate Donors Access

2009-01-07T08:58:03Z

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine has a Harvard Law School degree, has twice won statewide office, and is fluent in Spanish. It's a recent line on his resume that may become an issue as President-elect Barack Obama's choice to head the Democratic Party.

Kaine, 50, is the chairman of the Southern Governors' Association, a group that raises money from tobacco, oil, energy and pharmaceutical companies in exchange for access to governors and other state officials.

Kaine Likely To Expand Faith Offensive As DNC Chair

2009-01-05T13:45:35Z

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.

Mike Smith: 50 Most Fascinating People of 2008

2009-01-01T18:35:40Z

This year of 2008 has been amazing and fulfilling in my business, political and spiritual life.

I have had the great good fortune of volunteering all year on the Obama for President Campaign -- starting last year in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa through the final speech in Manassas, Virginia. I met Barack Obama in Iowa again after initially meeting at an Illinois Inaugural function when he was just a senator! I minored in African American Studies at Northwestern and studied apartheid. Never in my life did I think we'd have a Black man in the White House.

Working with Craig Newmark of craigslist changed my life. In terms of his approach to "doing well by doing good" and creating social responsibility ties (or as he claims, "giving people a break") -- I was inspired. I was able to meet people at Sunshine Foundation, Personal Democracy Forum, and press freedom groups. I hope to operate more like Craig in my dealings with people and organizations. Craig and I travelled all over the US as we worked on the Tech, Media and Telecomm group for Obama. One week over eight days, we did editorial boards in L.A., Columbus, Detroit and New York City. I met tech gurus like Julius Genachowski, Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn, Mike Nelson at Georgetown, and other luminaries.

Seeing and hearing Bishop Desmond Tutu who called our times now a "Mandela Moment" was a spiritual inspiration. Other "God Moments" happened this year in the knowing of one's purpose at almost age 50. Another spiritual inspiration to me has been Eric Hodge, a management consultant at Huron.

I was also given the chance to work with Crispin, Porter + Bogusky ad agency, the hottest shop in the world. CP+B has just won agency of the year from Ad Age, Adweek and Marketing News, a hat trick. They also won advertising campaign of the year. Thanks to my friends in neuromarketing, I was able to interface with Nielsen and meet the top management team. This lead to introductions at the New York Times, Universal McCann, CP+B, Kraft, Coke, P&G, and other CPG companies. I was happy for the exposure to the brand managers and researchers.

Political World
Barack Obama
Howard Dean
Mark Warner
David Axelrod
Terry McAuliffe
Tim Kaine

Hollywood Activists
Anne Hathaway
Dana Delaney
Richard Schiff
Matthew Modine

Obama Campaign Directors
Samir Randolph, Iowa
Jen Pilat, Michigan
Jen Arnold, Traveling Press
Alec Ross, Tech, Media & Telecomm (TMT)
Bill Burton, Press Secretary

New Clients
Susan Fulton, Financial Planner and charitable giver to environmental causes
Alecia O'Brien, dna13 and twitter princess
Casey Golden, Small Acts charitable social network
Manoj Ramnani, DubMeNow
Bob Sommer and Waldo Tibbetts, New York Observer media group
Rebecca Sellers, Clear Orbit
Paul Helmick, StateNewsLines

Tech Gurus
Craig Newmark, craigslist
Brian O'Shaugnessy, Skype
Adam Kovacevich, Google
Reid Hoffman, Ellen Levy, LinkedIn
Ariana Huffington, Huffington Post (and editors of this column plus "Off the Bus" features)

International Dignataries
Jennifer Friedman at (Madeleine) Albright & Assoc.
Madame Sec. Albright

Editorial Boards
Bill Keller, and NY Times Ed Board
Jennifer 8 Lee, NY Times Tech Blogger
Jeffrey in research at NY Times
Len Downie, and Washington Post Ed Board
Kim Hart, Tech Business at Washington Post
LA Times Ed Board
Columbus Dispatch Ed Board
Adam Pasick, Reuters, (and my campaign video blog column "Inside the Tent")
Jim VandeHei, Politico
The Hill Ed Board

Crispin, Porter + Bogusky
Alex Bogusky
Chuck Porter
Ryan Skubic, account manager for our AFTV program
Jeff Benjamin, interactive guru

Nielsen
David Calhoun, CEO
Jon Mandell
Dr. AK Pradeep, CEO of NeuroFocus
Caroline Winnett, CMO of NeuroFocus

PR Execs
Arthur Yann, PRSA
Rose Gordon, PRWeek news ed and "yogi"
Doug and Susan Kohl, Sierra in SF

These are my "Top 50" most interesting people of 2008. I sent about 200 Christmas or Holiday Cards this year so that is roughly equivalent to how many folks I met in my network. All of them interesting for their own reasons. Happy New Year!

Mike Stark: Tim Kaine (Man of Faith) Chooses

2008-12-21T21:07:57Z

I suppose there will be any number of similar stories coming in the months and years ahead, but this one struck a nerve. You see, from 3 years old until I joined the Marine Corps at 17, I lived almost exclusively in foster homes. Cycling through the system, you run into an awful lot of troubled kids. Some of them more so than others, but in the end, they are all kids. And some of them are sick - very sick.

You see, it's extraordinarily difficult providing care to an extremely autistic child. Or an obsessive-compulsive. Or Asperger's. A lot of these kids end up "in the system".

Yesterday a close friend told me (through tears) that Governor Tim Kaine, as a cost-cutting measure, is closing the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents. 200 jobs - nurses, doctors, social workers and staff - will be eliminated.

The CCCA was one of the only in-patient psychiatric hospitals in Virginia. It served practically the entire state. It was a way-station for these kids. They'd stay there for a while, receive a diagnosis and treatment plan, and move on to the next stage - either back home with their family or to a facility or home equipped to take care of them.

Nobody really knows what is going to happen to them now. The staff is scrambling to find a place for existing patients. Of course, they are also probably scrambling to find a job for themselves.

The CCCA affiliated with the University of Virginia's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program. To be certified as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, a rotation through an in-patient setting is required. The country - especially with its sky-rocketing rates of autism - is suffering through a huge shortage of C&A Psychiatrists. Without this hospital, UVa may have to end its C&A Fellowship Program. The fellows-in-training stand to be left adrift.

Governor Kaine, I'm convinced, chose to close this hospital because kids don't vote. Republicans will stand in the way of any tax increases, so there will simply not be any opportunity to close the budget gap the sane way.

Drive through Northern Virginia sometime. You'll see the posh corporate offices of Lockheed Martin, SAIC, CACI and scores of other war profiteers that have made billions of dollars in the last 8 years. These are the people whose taxes we simply cannot contemplate raising.

So yeah, shit really does roll downhill in bad economic times. Today it's sick children; I'm quite certain that tomorrow it will be food stamp recipients or folks that need help paying to heat their homes.

But it will never be the CEOs, war-profiteers or crooks that looted Wall Street.