Posts Tagged ‘Tim Kaine’
Allen looks to coalesce Tea Party support with Johnson endorsement
The name Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) probably doesn’t mean much to the average voter in Virginia. But U.S. Senate candidate George Allen (R) wasn’t necessarily looking to impress the “average” voter when he announced Johnson’s support of his campaign and then brought him on the stump with him Friday in Richmond.
Johnson is a wealthy businessman who ran a largely self-financed campaign to sweep long time liberal Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) from office. Johnson received a great deal of support from the Tea Party and is happy to be associated with the movement. A fiscal deficit hawk, Johnson supports deep spending cuts and is strongly opposed to the health care reform act and the federal stimulus.
Allen has a lukewarm connection with tea partiers in Virginia. One of the most prominent tea party leaders in the Commonwealth, Chesterfield’s Jamie Radtke decided to run against him in the upcoming republican primary. He has had a mixed success appealing to local tea party groups as he looks to seal up the nomination. Allen rarely appeals directly to the tea party but once said he was an “original member” of the tea party.
Allen’s biggest problem with the Tea Party comes from his last time in the Senate. Six years of supporting largely Republican led proposals that bumped up the federal debt and is a period of time that hard-core Tea Party members are very critical of. Johnson’s visit to Virginia it allowed his critics to remind voters about that time in office. Both Radtke on the right and the democrats on the left were all to eager to dredge up the past.
Radtke released a very critical web video that called Allen out for his support for “40,000 earmarks”. Web videos rarely have widespread appeal, but Radkte got a big bump when PolitiFact Virginia chose to rate the claim. Their “mostly true” rating pushed the video to a much wider audience. (It was in our PolitiFact Virginia report this week on NBC12). Democrats meanwhile had a field day pointing out the mixed message Allen has had with earmarks, saying he was “proud” of the ones he had brought back to Virginia and said they were ok, as long as they were accompanied by detailed information as to who proposed them.
Johnson worked to rein in the criticism of Allen in event today at Bill’s BBQ in Richmond. He strongly supported the former governor and senator’s leadership skills. Johnson argued that while progress is being made in Washington, real change hasn’t occurred because the Congress needs more people with Allen’s experience and ability to bring people together. He also said that Allen’s first go around in Washington was much different than things are now.
“Last time George Allen was in the senate we had manageable deficits,” said Johnson. ”Nobody liked them at all, but at least they were manageable.”
Despite the lack of rousing support from the Tea Party, there is simply no evidence that Allen is suffering. The few polls taken on the GOP primary show him with very large leads and he is neck and neck with his democratic opponent Tim Kaine in just about every poll. It is clear that Allen’s effort to reach out to that wing of the party is subtle. When we asked him about what role they will play in his election, he said they were important but went out of his way not to single them out.
“We are getting good support from a lot of folks,” Allen said, he went on to say, “We are welcoming every one to the A- Team.”
This won’t be the end of Allen’s effort and it will likely continue beyond the primary. The Republican nominee, no matter who they may be, will want the passionate support of the Tea Party to help push them over the hump come November in what is destined to be a razor thin election.
See clips from our interview with Johnson and Allen below:
The full release from today’s Allen event with Johnson can be found after the jump:
Warner helps Kaine unveil economic plan
Former Governor Tim Kaine has been a candidate for the U.S. Senate for exactly one year. It was a job that he took on a bit reluctantly, but has since attacked with vigour.
In a race that is expected to be a titanic struggle between two of Virginia’s most prominent politicians, Kaine appears willing to do whatever it takes to give himself the advantage. One of those advantages is his old running mate, Senator Mark Warner. Warner consistently polls as one of Virginia’s most popular elected officials and seems ready and willing to help keep both U.S. Senate seats in the hands of democrats.
But while, Warner helps Kaine draw crowds, and potentially TV cameras that might not be their otherwise, it was the candidate that had to sell the message. Kaine focused his remarks at various stops in Virginia on his plan for the economy. A broad plan, based on three basic tenants of job growth, strengthening the talent pool and building a balanced budget while bringing civil discourse to Washington.
Kaine’s most prominent Republican opponent George Allen wondered what took the former governor so long to release his plan.
“It took a year, but Chairman Tim Kaine has finally put on paper what Virginia families already knew,” said Allen campaign manager Mike Thomas. ”He (Kaine) wants to raise taxes on families and small businesses.”
The Allen campaign once again hammered home Kaine’s connection to President Barack Obama and specifically his support of the stimulus plan and health care reform.
For his part, Kaine countered that attacks like those are exactly what Washington, D.C. needs less of.
“It’s all about balance, civility and working together,” he said during an interview at an event at Maggie Walker Governor’s School in Richmond. “You know restoring the traditions of let’s find ways to work together.”
It was a sentiment that Warner echoed. Warner who has tried, with little success, to find bi-partisan partners in Washington said Kaine has the type of personality that will bring people together.
“People are pretty frustrated with congress at this point,” said Warner. ”They want us to get stuff done. Tim Kaine will get up there and get stuff done.”
An extended clip from Kaine and Warner at Maggie Walker Governor’s School can be found below:
Allen’s campaign released his economic plan “A Blueprint for America’s Future” last year.
More on Kaine’s plan can be found after the jump:
Kaine campaign unearths footage of Allen in 2000 calling for disclosure
Despite George Allen‘s resistance to come to come to some sort of an agreement on campaign deal to end “secret money” in the Virginia senate race, The Kaine campaign is not ready to back down. Today they released a web video with news clips of Tuesday’s coverage of the challenge and included a clip from Allen’s 2000 run for senate, where he talks about the importance of disclosing the source of campaign funds.
The clip is a segment from a debate between Allen and then incumbent Sen. Chuck Robb (D).
“We need disclosure so we know who is contributing to these campaigns,” said Allen. ”And I think that the people of Virginia ought to know who is making those contributions.”
Here is the Kaine web video, the clip from the debate hits at at about :34 seconds.
Yesterday, Allen said that is was hard to take Kaine’s claims of transparency seriously when he was recieving funds from out of state labor groups like the AFL-CIO which often pick candidates without the full consent of their membership. Today the National Republican Senatorial Committee echoed that charge. His campaign also argued that an agreement like this is impossible and was nothing more than a ‘Washington political stunt.”
Meanwhile, Politico is reporting that Kaine himself will soon benefit from a SuperPac of his own. A group of democratic consultants have formed the PAC and expect to launch soon.
“If Tim Kaine is truly serious about restoring transparency and accountability in our campaign finance laws, why does he support a mandatory union donation system in which hard-working men and women in Virginia have money stripped from their paychecks every month without their say?” asked Brian Walsh, an NRSC spokesman.
Lily Adams Kaine’s press secretary said “It is unfortunate that George Allen’s inside-the-beltway mentality has caused him to now abandon Virginia’s long-held principle of campaign disclosure after he publicly embraced it multiple times.”
Kaine, Allen spar over third party spending
It was a spark first lit back in December during the first, and so far only, debate for U.S. Senate from Virginia. I asked former Senator George Allen (R) his opinion of third-party spending in his race especially after the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
Here is the entire exchange unedited:
In case you missed it.. or didn’t feel like watching the video, Gov. Tim Kaine challenged Allen to tell the third party groups to stay out of Virginia.
At the post-debate in the press gaggle, Allen essentially closed any door that he might be open to teaming up with Kaine on a no-SuperPac pledge. After a few months, and the day after a new pro-allen SuperPac launched, the Kaine team decided to embrace Allen’s stance that he supports the way Virginia handles campaign finance. Essentially, unlimited donations but full disclosure where those donations are coming from.
Kaine sent Allen a letter asking him to have the two campaigns meet to carve out a plan to keep third-party “secret” money out of the Virginia senate campaign.
More from my story on NBC12.com:
RICHMOND (WWBT)- A unique proposal in the race for U.S. Senate, Tim Kaine is asking his likely opponent George Allen to team up to ask third-party groups, with secret donors to stay out of Virginia.
This proposal was borne out of a question I asked during a debate in December as part of our “Buying a Voice” segment.
The Allen camp calls Kaine’s idea: “A Washington political gimmick”
Despite being 10 months away from the election third-party groups are pouring cash into Virginia. Tim Kaine told me that Virginians deserve to know where the cash is coming from.
“If you won’t agree to no SuperPacs,” said Kaine “At least we should all be to agree no secret money.”
Kaine thinks Allen should be on board with the plan, based on what he said in the December debate.
“I’ve always been an advocate of ‘disclosure and freedom,’ said Allen.
In a response to Kaine’s request, Allen said it was “Hard to take (Kaine) seriously” because he took a sizeable donation from the AFL-CIO despite hoping to represent a right to work state.
The republican said most union members have no say over where their dues go when it comes to supporting candidates.
…read the full story on NBC12.com
Governor Kaine only spoke to NBC12 about his proposal. Our full interview with him can be found below:
See the transcripts of the letters from both campaigns after the jump.
Buying a Voice: U.S. Chamber attacks Kaine
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been very active in the 2012 election cycle. Their 3rd party political action committee has paid particular focus to the U.S. Senatate. Recently they launched this ad attacking former Governor Tim Kaine (D).
The Chamber of Commerce is a group most people are familiar with, but the name is one that many organizations at many different levels take on. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a pro-business national organization that tends to support mainly conservative and republican candidates.
The Washington D.C. based group is now front and center in the U.S. Senate race in Virginia. The man they have decided to attack is former governor Tim Kaine. The ad specifically attacks Kaine’s support for President Obama’s health care reform plan. Showing clips of the one-time DNC chair, praising the president’s leadership.
The “Chamber of Commerce” seems like a local group, something that stands up for local businesses and local communities, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pretty far removed from Main Street Virginia. They are a national umbrella organization, with members big and small from all over the U.S..
So far their third party spending arm has spent $3 million on T.V. ads across the country. Every single cent has been spent attacking democrats.
The ad is being shown in so many places that the Virginia Chamber of Commerce went out of their way to make sure voters knew they were still neutral in the race. In a statement their CEO Barry DuVal said they do not plan to endorse in the race for senate and that the Virginia Chamber is “a non-partisan, business advocacy organization.”
In addition to the ad attacking Kaine, The U.S. Chamber has also produced a similar ad praising his likely general election opponent former senator George Allen.
That ad is funded by the same group pushing the anti-Kaine ad.
Politifact Virginia rated the claims in the ad attacking Governor Kaine as “false“. Our report on the U.S. Chamber can be found below:
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Here is where we got our info:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s web site can be found here.
The Center for Responsive Politics looks into the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s political spending can be found here.
The PolitiFact Virginia report on this ad can be found here.
Kaine picks his moments to part with Obama
It has, and undoubtably will continue to be, one of the prevailing themes of the 2012 campaign for Virginia Senate. How close is Tim Kaine to President Barack Obama? The obvious answer is very close. Each time the president is forced to confront a difficult decision, Kaine is also forced to give his take. Quietly, Kaine has picked opportunities to build some space between he and Obama. Most of those occasions are never clear-cut, and regularly couched in an overriding appreciation of the president as a friend and as a leader. But make no mistake, Kaine is working to build his own image in a race where the president’s perception could have an overwhelming impact on the race for Senate.
The latest came in an interview with public radio station WRHV in Hampton Roads. Kaine was asked by the host Cathy Lewis what he thought of the confrontation between the Obama administration and the Catholic Church over mandatory coverage for contraception by intuitions operated by the Church. Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services has determined that facilities such as Catholic hospitals must provide the coverage for free, despite the Church’s moral opposition to contraception. Kaine said he thought the requirement went a bit too far.
“This is something that’s been talked about a lot today and I have definitely expressed my grave concerns to the White House about that,” Kaine said. ”I support the contraception mandate but there should be a religious employer exemption that is broader than the one they proposed.”
The Washington Post’s Ben Pershing picked up the conversation and his blog post quickly spread like wildfire to national political journalists who are aware of the Kaine-Obama connection and it’s implication on the Virginia Senate Race.
Kaine’s campaign was quick to damper down some of the talk. They made sure to point out that former Virginia governor still believes the overall contraception mandate makes sense, but just believes the exemption should extend further than what HHS has dictated.
This back and forth is pretty typical of a Kaine parts with Obama moment. The headline comes out “Kaine parts with Obama”. The tweets and blogposts follow and then the Kaine team does a bit of work to temper the idea that their candidate has strayed too far from the president, but make clear exactly where the two differ.
Case in point. During an interview with me on First at 4 back in September, Kaine split with the president on raising the tax rate on capital gains and he said he supported a higher sunset rate for the Bush tax cuts. Just like the contraception issue, Kaine supports the president’s broad policy, but finds subtle differences where he can build some space.
But that is not all.
Kaine called on the Obama administration to continue their study of the Keystone XL pipeline, instead of turning the project down. He believed the president should’ve gone to the Congress before taking any military action in Libya and he was disappointed when the Obama administration passed by Virginia as a potential site to explore off shore drilling.
It will be impossible for Kaine to completely escape the specter of Obama and he knows it. He once told me that when it comes to he and the president, “I’ve got my own views on some things and he and I some times have some pleasant and some times spirited disagreement on this or that. But on most issues we see things the same way.” That is why the Kaine team welcomes polls like today’s that shows Obama (and them) with a slight lead in Virginia.
But while Kaine wiggles an every so small space between he and Obama, George Allen will continue to pound home his belief that his fellow former governor will be nothing more than a rubber stamp for a Obama agenda.
National republicans have already pounced on Kaine’s statements on the contraception debate, tying it to his overall strong support for the health care reform law.
“If Tim Kaine is truly concerned with government overreach today,” asked Brian Walsh of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. ’Why didn’t he listen to the countless Virginians and Americans across the country who expressed these same concerns BEFORE he joined with President Obama to help ram ObamaCare through the Congress?”
So between now and election day, expect every moment of new difference between Kaine and Obama to become big news stories. No matter how small the issue may be.
Keystone politics comes to Virginia
The Keystone XL pipeline project is a hot topic in Washington. A debate filled with claims of enormous promise, scary consequences and just about everything in between. Candidates have lined up on either side of the debate and even though the proposed project would take place hundreds of miles away from Virginia, it is becoming a big issue here.
Senate candidate George Allen is using Keystone and President Barack Obama‘s decision to turn down the project, as a way to corner his likely opponent Tim Kaine. Allen accuses Kaine of supporting Obama’s decision and claims it is an example of Kaine putting his tight relationship with President Obama ahead of the job concerns of his would-be constituents.
Allen’s campaign emphasised that point by releasing this devastating web video:
Allen fully supports the Keystone XL project and has worked hard to highlight Kaine’s uncertainty on the issue. Their goal is to make it appear that Kaine won’t make a move without making sure it is okay first with the president.
But Kaine forcefully defended his Keystone position and accused Allen of taking an hypocritical approach to the project. The Kaine team pointed out that while Allen has pushed for approval of the Keystone project, he has taken a rather tepid approach to the issue of expanding uranium mining in Virginia. Allen has said that Virginia needs to be certain of enviornmental and health concerns before moving forward on uranium.
The Kaine team pointed to a critical Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial that compares the approach of Virginia republicans to uranium to the president’s approach to Keystone. Just as Allen has tied Kaine to Obama, Kaine is working to tie his potential opponent to the massive oil companies that could benefit from a project like Keystone.
“George Allen had the chance to prove that he’d be an independent voice for the Commonwealth and the nation,” said Kaine communications director Brandi Hoffine. ”Instead he’s proven that, if reelected to the U.S. Senate, he’ll continue to be a rubber stamp for oil companies who do not need his help to turn a profit.”
While the Keystone project has now become nothing more than a political talking point, Senator Mark Warner, a democrat and an ally of Kaine believes the White House should consider revisiting the concept.
“I think it should come up again,” Warner said in an interview on First at 4.
Warner believes that the cautious approach to Keystone was the right one and if handled correctly, it could solve a major U.S. problem.
“I think we very much need an ‘all of the above’ approach to energy,” he said. ”Use our natural resources, promote renewables, use nuclear, but we have to make sure we get off of that mideast oil, and this would’ve taken us in that direction.”
But much like Kaine who chided republicans in Washington from turning the deliberative process of Keystone into a political issue, Warner believed the president was put in a difficult position. “I do think it was a bit of a ‘gotcha’ by forcing the president to decide very quickly,” Warner said.
Kaine has also encouraged the Obama adminstration to revisit the project.
Meanwhile the project is dead in the water, but the political fight is just beginning.
Buying A Voice: Two candidates, two different opinions on campaign cash
There may not be a race in America that will have more money flowing into it, then the race for U.S. Senate from Virginia. Much of that money will flow from political advocacy groups that aren’t required to publically reveal their donors. In their recent debate we asked both of the leading candidates to request these third party groups to stay out of the U.S. Senate race.
Neither took us up on our offer.
Both republican George Allen and democrat Tim Kaine believe there is something wrong with the big donors being able to fund damaging political ads and do so without the public knowing who they are.
“The federal laws are very complicated and convoluted and there are restrictions,” said Allen.
Kaine added, “I think it is a disaster to let corporation spend corporate money in the way that they are spending it now.”
The two depart when it comes to the principle behind the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision.
Allen argues it is a defense of freedom of speech.
“I don’t want to say in the midst of a political campaign that any American should not be able to express their views,” he said.
Kaine called the ruling a travesty.
“It’s opened up groups to pour in secret money and if you can hide your identity, you just might give more,” he said.
But while both found their flaws with the “Citizens United” case, neither was willing to independently remove themselves from these third party groups that could help, or hurt their respective campaigns.
“If George and I could reach an agreement and we could get everyone to stay out of the race, other than George Allen and me i would agree to it tomorrow,” said Kaine
Allen wouldn’t make the deal.
“There is a reason why those organizations are allowed to keep the confidentially of their donors,” he said.
The full exchange from the December 7th debate can be found below:
