Originally posted at Overdetermined
I've been meaning to write about this since I heard the leak, but I wanted to wait till it was official. After all, seeing what Barack had to say, what the Committee members had to say, and most importantly, what Tim Kaine had to say, was going to give a lot of context to the replacement. Blue Leader was right to expect that I'd have a lot to say, but even though I have an explosive temper and no fear of running my mouth, I do have a little bit of patience. Anyway, since the bourbon's out of the bottle, we may as well drink up. With the appointment of Kaine to the DNC, I am still upset that Dean is without a job, if it's not to be Dean at the DNC, I am cautiously optimistic that Kaine will do a good job.
There's more.
Why am I optimistic? Well, let's begin with the fact that Kaine was the first real beneficiary of Dean's 50 State Strategy. It's almost received wisdom now that Virginia is a purple to blue state, and that it's just a matter of time before the demographic changes ensure that it's a blue state, but that was absolutely not the case in 2005. At the time, even though Democrats had been making incremental gains in the state legislature and Mark Warner had just finished a spectacularly successful term as Governor, the conventional wisdom was that Warner was a fluke. Gilmore was a complete failure, and after him, the Democrats could have run a pancake and won. The real question was whether or not Warner was the pancake or the future, and no one gave the Democrats good odds.
After all, Democrats had just taken one of the greatest poundings in the history of the party and lost seats nationwide. Senator Kerry's bid for the Presidency was bungled, mismanaged and lacked a focused message. In the eyes of the national media, we couldn't even appoint a DNC Chairman correctly, and found a one-time embarassment actively campaigning on hope, change, reform and the grassroots' vision. This embarrassment somehow managed to bypass the power-brokers of the party to assume the Chairman's seat. The media put their popcorn in the microwave and actively awaited more Dean screams, while at the same time sagely commenting on Rove's and Dowd's vision for a permanent Republican majority and how the President had won political capitol.
Things did not look good for Kaine, and the Republicans, still giddy on blood from the Presidential election, were openly crowing about reclaiming their birthright in Old Dominion. But Kaine had an ally in Dean, who worked with the Warner reformed Virginia Democratic Party, to massively fund and develop a huge field operation in Virginia. Everyone thought that it was a big waste of time and money, and a massive over-reach by the new Chairman. And it wasn't just the usual Democratic concern trolls who thought so - a lot of Democrats weren't pleased by the fact that they were being asked to support a Catholic who believed in the consistent life ethic and who lacked overwhelming charisma of someone like Bill Clinton.
But between the massive field operation and Kaine's willingness to go into seemingly hostile territory, such as Christian radio stations and t.v. shows, to explain his point of view, Democrats threaded the needle and managed to hold on to Richmond. Even the downticket races were close - Creigh Deeds almost got it, and Leslie Byrne came so close. But the lesson was learned: Democrats were not just the party of urban centers. Democrats went into territory that the Republicans had taken for granted and fought them tooth and nail for those votes, and picked off a lot of them. Democrats went up before hostile audiences and explained their views, rather than letting the Republican slime machine define their brand and policies. And Kaine was the one in the spotlight who had to do it.
As a communicator of the party's philosophy, Kaine is not in the Boxer or Nadler mode. He's not out there waving the bloody shirt and riling up the base to go vote. He's more cerebral, and much more like Obama than people realize. He keeps his cool, thanks people for their opinion, and then lays out for them why he thinks that they're wrong. While this may not make him a great rabble rouser, it makes him a devastating weapon against the shock and awe propagandists at the various Republlican committees and Fox News, National Review, etc. Confronted with someone as down to earth and who has such avuncular qualities, the charges of Marxist, radical, lunatic, etc. just won't stick.
So, he's on board for the 50 State Strategy, comfortable with dealing with hostile audiences and good at political jiu-jitsu. But that's not all. As Ambinder reported, Kaine's bringing on staffers with incredible field kung fu. Where there's smoke, there's fire, and where there's field, there's data. My primary concern, the voter file, is most likely safe.
In some ways, I'm reminded of something that my dad once told me about the business world. The woman who can hatch an idea and grow it out of its embryonic stages isn't necessarily the woman to run it once it's at the next phase of development. That's why brilliant ideas people frequently start companies, grow them, cash out and move on to do other brilliant things. Maybe that's what we're seeing with Dean and Kaine. Kaine couldn't have grown this to where it is now, but maybe he's the guy who can take it to the next level. Only time will tell, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
DD