If headline writers could pick the vice-president, and graybeards like Gary Hart and Sam Nunn were out of contention, it's pretty clear they'd go with Tim Kaine. The titles write themselves: "Yes we Kaine!" "Kaine he do it?" "Raising Kaine!" And so forth. Point being, for the sake of tyhe republic, it's clear Kaine needs to either change his name, or take himself out of contention.But the rumors right now suggest that Kaine isn't only a favorite of headline writers, but of the folks around Obama (and, oddly, Terry McAuliffe). Given that Obama's great weakness is inexperience, I have trouble imagining him choosing a first-term governor who's only served three years. Kaine might be this year's Gephardt: The guy who gets the rumors, but not the nomination. But Kaine comes with a few other qualifications that make him an interesting choice: A deep commitment to Catholicism that led him to take a year off from Harvard Law to work as a missionary in Honduras. High approval ratings and a real political machine in Virginia, a state that only needs a slight push to fall into the Democratic column. And Kaine was on the Obama train early -- he says he was the first statewide official outside Illinois to endorse Obama. The cons are that Kaine has no national security chops, no national profile, and can be a bit of an awkward speaker (as you can see in his State of the Union reply, or his recent speech on behalf of Obama). But more important than any of that is his actual record in Virginia, which folks seem to suggest is pretty good, but which I know relatively little about. Can any more informed voices out there fill in the picture in comments? OBAMA/KAINE?
If headline writers could pick the vice-president, and graybeards like Gary Hart and Sam Nunn were out of contention, it's pretty clear they'd go with Tim Kaine. The titles write themselves: "Yes we Kaine!" "Kaine he do it?" "Raising Kaine!" And so forth. Point being, for the sake of tyhe republic, it's clear Kaine needs to either change his name, or take himself out of contention.But the rumors right now suggest that Kaine isn't only a favorite of headline writers, but of the folks around Obama (and, oddly, Terry McAuliffe). Given that Obama's great weakness is inexperience, I have trouble imagining him choosing a first-term governor who's only served three years. Kaine might be this year's Gephardt: The guy who gets the rumors, but not the nomination. But Kaine comes with a few other qualifications that make him an interesting choice: A deep commitment to Catholicism that led him to take a year off from Harvard Law to work as a missionary in Honduras. High approval ratings and a real political machine in Virginia, a state that only needs a slight push to fall into the Democratic column. And Kaine was on the Obama train early -- he says he was the first statewide official outside Illinois to endorse Obama. The cons are that Kaine has no national security chops, no national profile, and can be a bit of an awkward speaker (as you can see in his State of the Union reply, or his recent speech on behalf of Obama). But more important than any of that is his actual record in Virginia, which folks seem to suggest is pretty good, but which I know relatively little about. Can any more informed voices out there fill in the picture in comments? 
