Kaine: Strong VP Buzz

29 July 2008 |permalink | email article

POLITICO reported yesterday evening that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, 50, ranks “very, very high” on Barack Obama’s shortlist.

Citing sources in Richmond and Chicago, the blog added that Kaine’s “getting a critical examination.” Others also now reportedly on the very short list for heavy vetting include Joe Biden, Evan Bayh and Kathleen Sebelius.

As governor of a state that Obama hopes to make a key battleground, Kaine’s background as a Spanish-speaking former Catholic missionary who worked with the Jesuit order in Honduras and a civil rights lawyer make him a serious pick.

Proponents say that Kaine could serve as an ambassador to four key voting blocs: Virginians, Catholics, working-class white voters and Hispanics.

(Kaine can be seen on a YouTube video endorsing Obama in proficient Spanish.)

He lacks foreign policy and Washington experience, but as Obama hinted on a NBC interview Saturday he’d prefer a Beltway outsider.

No New Taxes?

John McCain was quoted as saying in February of this year: “no new taxes … in fact, I could see an argument, if our economy continues to deteriorate, for lower interest rates, lower tax rates, and certainly decreasing corporate tax rates.”

On ABC News Sunday, in a discussion with George Stephanopoulos about taxes, McCain repeatedly said “that everything has to be on the table.”

Stephanopoulos: So, that means payroll tax increases are on the table, as well?

McCain: There is nothing that’s off the table. I have my positions, and I will articulate them. But nothing’s off the table.

The fiscal conservative group The Club of Growth immediately challenged McCain and asked him to reaffirm his commitment to avoid all tax increases.

Far more telling was the comment of Douglas Holtz-Eakin, chief domestic policy adviser to McCain in Time: “I used to say that Barack Obama raises taxes and John McCain cuts them, and I was convinced I stand corrected.”

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