Is Kaine Able? Obama Wants to Know

By Jonathan Allen | July 28, 2008 9:30 PM | | Comments (0)

Several reports, primarily one from super-sourced Washington Post reporters Michael Shear and Shailagh Murray, have Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine making it through Barack Obama's latest rose ceremony in the vice presidential version of The Bachelor (or The Bachelorette).

Here's what Shear and Murray had to say:

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has told close associates that he has had "very serious" conversations with Sen. Barack Obama about joining the Democratic presidential ticket and has provided documents to the campaign as it combs through his background, according to several sources close to Kaine.
Kaine spokeswoman Delacey Skinner did not confirm the story in a brief interview tonight, but no one is knocking it down.

"The governor is always flattered to be mentioned. It makes his mom happy to read his name in the paper," Skinner said.
She said Kaine made a commitment to help Obama however he could when he signed on to the campaign.

"He also pledged that he would keep his conversations with the senator and with the campaign private."

Kaine is technically a Washington outsider who could help carry Obama's "change" mantra through his home state, which Democrats believe is in their grasp, and perhaps to other southern and border states. Like Obama, who campaigned for him in 2005, Kaine is a Harvard-trained lawyer. He also backed Obama early, when it looked like Hillary Clinton was the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination.

Moreover, he fits the profile that Obama seems to like: a progressive Democrat who can win statewide in a traditional Republican stronghold.

But Kaine has little to no national profile, no national security credentials, no experience at the federal level and has had many  tough, partisan battles with Republicans in the Virginia legislature that might undercut Obama's appeal to bipartisanship.

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