There are a lot of bloggers on DK that have said Obama should not pick a VP based on the electoral map, but rather on what he or she could bring to an Obama Administration. Short of making an electorally disastrous decision, I agree.
Governor Kaine would not be a disastrous choice - he's likable, not prone to gaffes, and could legitimately boost the chances of turning VA blue for the first time in 44 years. But he's a poor choice for two reasons:
- His instincts are always to appease powerful industries and it's just not in his constitution to take a strong stand against them - his version of "Yes We Can!" is more like "It would sure be nice if only we could."
- Well, I'll explain #2 on the flip...
I was browsing around on Real Clear Politics and happened across this Charlie Rose interview with Governor Kaine. Don't click play unless you have some time on your hands - it's 56 minutes long (but worth watching if you have 56 minutes to spare):
I watched the entire interview and I have to admit, it's hard not to like the guy. He has a story as interesting as Obama's and generally comes across well. But in 56 minutes of supposedly talking about the most important issues facing our nation, here are some words and phrases that he never used even once:
Global warming
Climate Change
Environment
Conservation
Efficiency
Renewable Energy
Green jobs
A 56 minute interview and he never said any of them even once. What makes matters worse is that there's a reason he didn't - to pretend he was deeply concerned about those issues would make him the worst kind of hypocrite.
Here is a photo I took a couple of weeks ago in Wise County, Virginia:
If you don't know what you're looking at, it's called mountaintop removal coal mining. More than 25% of Wise County's land - 60,000 acres - has been blasted to smithereens through mountaintop removal and similar methods of strip mining. Here's a link to a flickr set of a bunch more photos of the coal mines in SW Virginia - mines that Governor Kaine has never spoken one word against. Worse, he has refused to meet with the hundreds of citizens whose lives and livelihoods are being devastated as a result, despite repeated requests.
In case you're thinking it's because this mining is helping the economy of Southwest Virginia, here's a link to a fact sheet that shows how the economy of Wise County is faring as a result of the mining.
Not only has Governor Kaine done nothing to stop mountaintop removal in his state, but he denies it even happens in Virginia. He also spent a lot of energy and political capital to support the building of a new coal-fired power plant in Virginia - in Wise County, no less. In regard to that plant, other than parroting the usual (and thoroughly discredited) coal-industry talking points about how efficiency and renewables can't meet demand, Kaine specifically mentioned that the plant was needed to support more coal mining like what is shown above.
Another possible VP choice that has been mentioned, Gov. Sebelius of Kansas, stands in stark contrast. Sebelius stood up to the big interests in her state to halt the construction of a massive new coal-fired power plant. This was not a popular decision, and it ran absolutely counter to her short-term political interests. But she did it because it was the right thing to do.
But the point I want to make is not just a single-issue argument about global warming or coal mining. Gov. Kaine has never shown the kind of leadership or backbone that Sebelius has shown and never taken a major stand against the big special interests that dominate Richmond. He's a good person, and he deserves respect, but he's not a leader - and leadership against the gargantuan influence of the energy industry in Washington is what our country needs right now, fully as much as we need leadership in getting out of Iraq.
I don't know much else about Governor Sebelius, except that nominating her isn't likely to put any new states into play. But if Obama is going to run on "change we can believe in" he had better make sure he chooses a VP and Cabinet that we can believe in to make change. Choosing Kaine would instill very little confidence.