Question: In what world do you oversee a so-called electoral "shellacking" and get to keep your job? Answer: In Barack Obama's postpartisan world wherein parties matter least of all notwithstanding our needing a party (let alone a base) to accomplish pretty much anything.
I'll keep it short: As the Republicans get ready to oust RNC Chair Michael Steel next week, I've been curious why the Dems. won't get to have a similar election to replace former VA Governor Tim Kaine. I'm sure some intrepid reporter/Kossack knows the technical answer (perhaps difference in party by-laws or rules, etc.?) and I'd be interested to know what that answer is. But, geez, is Tim Kaine the "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job?" of party politics?
Some of you might have seen Tim Kaine on CNN's "State of Union" in which he said,
My agreement with the president is I was going to do what he wants me to do . . . And what I know sitting here today is he wants me to continue in this spot and that's what I'm going to do with excitement, you know, traveling all around the country, going through the TSA lines like everybody else, going out and being the president's advocate and promoter.
WTF?
This afternoon, some crank on Red State reports "Tim Kaine continues the Democrats' Great Circle of Fail." http://www.redstate.com/... I'm not here to spout that blogger's arguments arugments, particularly his Orwell meme and his perceptions about the Inner and Outer parties (whom is he even talking about exactly?). I'm sure we could articulate all sorts of reasons why Barack Obama wants him to remain, most obviously because he's an ally who doesn't make waves.
Bottom line: Tim Kaine is lame, lame, and more lame. He's strikes me as a well-intentioned, affable guy and he might have been an effective Red State governor, but as far as a national party man he is hapless and ineffective. What happened to the 50-state strategy? What happened to the grassroots infrastructure that was put in place in 2008 and MIA in 2010? How can we possibly hold on to the U.S. Senate in 2012? What the what the what the heck is OFA supposed to be doing?
And here's the bottom to the bottom line: If we're stuck with Tim Kaine through this next cycle, what are we the Netroots and grassroots who have just been "shellacked" going to do now? At this point, we have no reason to expect better results from Tim Kaine on the state level in 2011 or Congressionally in 2012. There's no presidential primary challenger to Obama for us to coalesce around (not saying there should be). Even if we're all likely to turn out for Obama in 2012, this is not going to be "Change We Can Believe In" Redux. As Markos reminds us --- right, wrong, or indifferent --- Obama supporters are less likely to provide cash and manpower for his campaign because he has repeatedly treated his base as inconsequential.
Kids, if you believe like I do, that a progressive future turns on an effective and ongoing 50-state strategy, we need to coordinate ourselves and work to achieve it --- without the DNC. We just can't count on the DNC or Obama to prevent another shellacking.