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VIRGINIA GOV. TIM KAINE: OBAMA APPEALS TO REPUBLICANS.
Today seems to be the day of Obama in the Center. The Obama campaign put Virgina's Democratic governor, Tim Kaine, on the phone with reporters this afternoon to learn about the candidate's appeal to moderate and Republican voters. "Virginia is a tough, tough state," Kaine said, but Obama appeals to the same "slice of the electorate" that crossed over the aisle in Virginia to vote for him and before him, Mark Warner.
I asked Kaine if some Democratic primary voters would be turned off by a campaign that is putting so much emphasis on appealing to Independents and Republicans. After all, Hillary Clinton is attacking Obama daily for his supposed centrist compromises on health care, Social Security, and choice. Here's how Kaine responded:
I think it's odd to attack somebody for a message that is essentially about unifying our nation, and that's what Barack's message is about. He's a person of strong views, but he doesn't demonize the opposition. We want everybody to sit down and share views and find common ground. I'm 50 -- the nation has not been this polarized in my memory. The last 7 and 8 years have been very, very polarizing in a tough and bitter way, and I think Americans want to move past that. They see that as a Washington phenomenon. I think it's gutsy of Barack in a primary campaign to focus on this issue of outreach to Independents and moderate Republicans. But I also think it's what the country needs, and I think he's banking on the fact that most Americans understand that as well.
For Obama, this race is more about taking America back from divisive partisanship than about taking American back from divisive, hard-right conservative Republicanism in particular, which is, truth be told, the major cause of our problems. His frame might be a savvy way to win a general election, but as a closer in dead heat primary states, I'm skeptical.
--Dana Goldstein
COMMENTS (10)
"Unifying" our country? At what cost? It's time to stand up to the right-wing that is destroying America.
Posted by: Davidson | December 20, 2007 1:38 PM
We've become a nation of cynics, pure and simple. Healing the nation and standing up for what you believe in don't have to be mutually exclusive things. If Obama can get Dems behind him and also win over independents and moderate Republicans, he can more effectively marginalize the hard right. I am at a loss for why people don't seem to get that.
Posted by: Mike P | December 20, 2007 2:04 PM
I don't get this obsession with unifying the country -- that's what American Idol and the Super Bowl are for.
The crossover appeal to Republicans should be: "The 19th century is over. Cross over and get behind what we believe, or wander the fucking wilderness for the next 40 years."
Posted by: CJR | December 20, 2007 2:06 PM
>His frame might be a savvy way to win a general election,
My fear is that it is really a failure to understand the nature of the current GOP.
Posted by: tdraicer | December 20, 2007 2:08 PM
You can be a statesman without being a chump. Look at Regan. His bipartisan appeal allowed him to push a really conservative agenda. Yes, there will be compromises. But those compromises can achieve more lasting change than a one vote victory. The democratic base wants revenge. The American people want a government that works.
There is a reason the next president will be a democrat with control of both the House and the Senate: The Republican’s mistaking assumed that 51% majorities can be strengthened by partisan politics. The mob is fickle and it will turn on you. It will switch from demand side to supply side, and back again. It will support a war, call it a mistake, and then support it again. Statesmen can weather these tides of public opinion because the public trusts them.
Posted by: Humbleobserver | December 20, 2007 3:03 PM
I don't understand why anybody would attack Obama or Kaine because they are appealing to moderates republicans or independents, who knows maybe those mods. and indies will switch for good to be democrats. It won't have to have, in the long-run, a governing majority. As long as he is not selling his soul to insurance or other corporations I think his strategy works well in the primary (New Hamp, Iowa etc.) as well as in the general.
Posted by: jeanba | December 20, 2007 3:22 PM
"For Obama, this race is more about taking America back from divisive partisanship than about taking American back from divisive, hard-right conservative Republicanism in particular..."
Taking it back like the Clintons did?
Posted by: brewmn | December 20, 2007 3:32 PM
Why is it wrong to demonize demons? And if Obama is wearing this "can't-we-all-get-along" routine as a ploy, doesn't that make him, you know, a phony? And if he really believes it, his shorts will be up a flagpole, courtesy of those nice Republicans, by 12:01 pm on Jan. 20, 2009.
Posted by: Nick | December 20, 2007 4:24 PM
I think this passage from a recent Obama interview with TNR is pretty interesting:
"Look, I mean there's no doubt that we have made an argument that is a little tougher than the argument that--well, we're making an argument that our politics has to change. In that sense, it's a process argument, to some degree. But it's tied very concretely to what we need to get done. I'm not interested in good government for the sake of good government. You can make an argument that there were times when patronage politics worked pretty well for the down and out and for the immigrant end of America. And, you know, maybe the lace curtain crowd didn't like it, but it really helped in terms of upward mobility. That's not true any more. So when I say I want to change politics, it's precisely because I want to make sure that people have health care, that they've got a job that pays a living wage, that they can send their kids to college, that they can retire with dignity and respect.
And you're right that this notion of partisanship is also a little confused. I'm not afraid to get in a big partisan fight. But what I'm not going to do is organize my campaign around the fact that I'm not a Republican. I don't think that gets us to where we need to go. So, look, nobody's been fiercer in going after Republicans where I think they're wrong. I've never been a centrist, middle of the road Democrat. I mean, if anything, both Hillary and John have had their moments, you know, their roles in that. That's not a role I've ever taken. And I've never pretended to take that role. I have always taken the view that my job is to fight for people who nobody else is fighting for. And to fight hard for 'em. And sometimes that's partisan. But sometimes it's not. Sometimes working with Republicans is the best way to deliver for them. Sometimes cleaning up politics is the best way to deliver for them. Ultimately, my goal is to deliver for them."
Posted by: Mike P | December 20, 2007 4:34 PM
Funny, there is a poll out today showing Hillary winning Virginia against the GOP candidates. The same poll shows Obama losing Virginia against every single republican candidate. So much for his appeal to republicans.
Posted by: Nan | December 21, 2007 10:41 PM