Stakes high for Gov. Tim Kaine’s DNC duties

He didn’t ask for this job.

The job of chairman of the Democratic National Committee, that is.

Now that he has it, six months later, even an outsider might understand why Gov. Timothy M. Kaine was somewhat reluctant to take it in the first place.

He has been dogged by state Republican leaders, eager to find an opening in a pivotal state election year to reverse the tide of political success that has given Virginia Democrats control of the governor’s office, two U.S. Senate seats, the state’s House of Representatives delegation and the state Senate.

He has been forced to defend himself on charges that he neglected his state duties to further the interests of the national party during tough economic times. And he has been criticized for not releasing through his office a schedule of his out-of-state travel and his appearances for political fundraising events.

Kaine said in a recent interview that he usually spends half a day during the work week at DNC headquarters in Washington in coordination with state business in Northern Virginia.

He said a review of recent political trips suggests he spends roughly one day each seven-day week attending party fundraising activities inside and outside Virginia, during which he said he often conducts state business.

“I’m still working very, very hard for Virginia,“ he said.

To Kaine, who had resisted previous overtures from party leaders to take the DNC post, the deciding moment came in an offer he couldn’t refuse from a friend—the man he helped elect—President Barack Obama.

“He said, ‘Look, it’s all-hands-on-deck time in this country right now . . . I need your help,‘“ Kaine recounted.

Virginia and New Jersey are the only two states holding elections for governor this year. In November, Virginia voters will also elect a lieutenant governor, a state attorney general and all 100 members of the House of Delegates.

Many see the elections as a referendum on the Democratic stewardship of the state under Kaine and Obama’s first year in office.

“It’s huge,“ Virginia political analyst Robert Holsworth said of the race for governor between Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell.

“Can [Kaine], as a Democratic governor, leave the state to a successor of his own party, and can he, in his first test as partisan-in-chief for the national Democratic Party, succeed in his own state?“ he asked.

A win in Virginia would enhance Kaine’s party credibility around the country and give the national and state organizations momentum heading into the midterm elections in 2010, when the party in the White House traditionally loses seats, said Holsworth.

And a loss?

“There’s going to be a lot of Democrats saying ‘Why should we listen to Tim Kaine if he couldn’t hold serve in his backyard?‘“ said Holsworth.

Kaine views his DNC role primarily as the promoter of Obama’s agenda.

“The world needs a successful American president right now—so does this nation. I need everybody who walks into that building [DNC headquarters] every day to think, ‘How can I help the president succeed today?‘ In that sense, I’m a perfect fit.“

Kaine doesn’t dismiss the importance of success in Virginia this fall but is not fixated on how the result will reflect on him.

“It’s not about me,“ he said. “It’s about the state, and I care deeply that the right thing happens. And that is a sense of pressure, but that’s not because I’m DNC chair.

“I want this state to be run well, and I want the philosophy of governance that Mark [former Gov. Mark R. Warner] put in place and I’ve tried my best to emulate to continue.“

With the stakes so high in Virginia, the GOP has gone on the offensive. And so far, their primary target has been Kaine, not Deeds.

New Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Pat Mullins suggests that Kaine’s DNC duties are detracting from his ability to manage the state during difficult economic times and costing the state time and money when he leaves Virginia to pursue the interests of the party.

“He simply cannot be a part-time governor when people are looking for full-time solutions,“ Mullins said.

The criticism has gained traction in the media, not unlike criticism leveled by Democrats in 2000 when Gov. Jim Gilmore assumed leadership of the Republican National Committee while still in office.

Gilmore, who had to manage elections in 30 states when he was party chairman, said it is possible to do both jobs, in terms of time and efficiency.

“You can do it. Kaine can do it,“ he said. But the former governor, who ran unsuccessfully last fall for the U.S. Senate, was reluctant to give his blessing to the marriage.

“He is in the middle of a great recession, and there is great need for the creation of jobs in Virginia,“ said Gilmore. “And I think by taking on the role, he’s not creating jobs in Virginia.“

Kaine argued that his closeness to the Obama administration has already paid dividends for Virginia.

He says it allows him to “make my case directly to the decision makers” in Washington—on keeping an aircraft carrier in Norfolk from moving to Florida, to a presidential declaration on cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay and discussions on how stimulus money should be prioritized.

Kaine’s chairmanship lasts for four years, when Obama would start his second term if re-elected.

“A lot is going to depend on the mood of the state and the mood of the nation,“ said Gilmore, who served as RNC chairman for about a year.

“He has only two litmus tests this year—Virginia and New Jersey—and depending on how these things go, the stakes could be pretty high.“

But Gilmore noted that much will be out of Kaine’s control, in the same way that the economy and Iraq war played a role in last November’s ouster of GOP incumbents.

The national chairman doesn’t pick the state candidates and could easily end up the scapegoat if success doesn’t follow.

“You’re going to have the movements and moods of people in two states, and he’ll be held accountable for the outcome,“ Gilmore said. “Time will tell.“

Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or .