Gov. Tim Kaine a Risky Choice: Would Raise Inexperience Issue for Sen. Obama

Of the names said to be on Sen. Obama's short list, Gov. Tim Kaine would seem to me the most risky. He has been Gov. of Virginia for only 2 years! He has not accomplished a lot during the period of time. If his name is being floated as a trial balloon, let me speak plainly: Obama needs someone with more experience.

Sens. Bayh, Biden or Clinton all seem to me to be much safer choices--who help close the experience gap, rather than tear it wide open again like picking Gov. Kaine would do.

Andrew Romano agrees:
Newsweek:
So why I am reluctant to hop on the Obama-Kaine bandwagon? Because Kaine has his fair share of drawbacks as well. Some are relatively minor. According to Virginia political experts, he's been an ineffective governor--Sabato places him in "the bottom quartile"--who "has recorded few significant successes and one giant, overriding failure in the transportation field." He's significantly less popular than mentor and predecessor Mark Warner, and it's unclear whether he could actually help deliver Virginia for Obama. His views on abortion and civil unions--he opposes both--could cause some friction on the left. If Kaine left mid-term, a conservative Republican would move into the governor's mansion--a move that could potentially allow the GOP to gerrymander the state's congressional districts. And his one moment in the national spotlight--delivering the Democratic response to the State of the Union in 2006--was a flop.

The dealbreaker, however, could be experience. Even though polls still show that voters question Obama's readiness for the role of Commander in Chief, the candidate himself is apparently uninterested in choosing a running mate solely to bolster his national-security cred. I can understand his reluctance--such a selection would likely emphasize the relative thinness of his resume while doing little to quite quiet critics' concerns. But the difference between Kaine and say, Sebelius, is that Kaine's not only a foreign-policy rookie--he's rookie, period. In fact, he's the only candidate on Obama's list--long or short--who's served less time in *major* statewide office (two-and-a-half years) than Obama himself. Reasonable people can argue over whether this greenness would hamper his vice presidency. But there's little doubt that Kaine's skimpy CV, more than any other top contender's, would help Republicans crystallize their most convincing attack on Obama--he's not ready to lead. Kaine expands the "inexperience" target instead of shrinking it, or even leaving it the same size. As the National Review's Jim Geraghty wrote this morning, Obama and Kaine "would be the most astonishingly inexperienced pair to hit Washington in modern history." Agree or not, the Illinois senator should expect to hear that line every day between now and Nov. 4 if he puts his colleague from Virginia on the ticket.

Ultimately, Obama's decision on Kaine will come down to a simple question. What's more important: conveying "change" or insulating against charges of inexperience? I have no idea how he'll answer. But I'll be watching that barbecue in Union, Mo. tomorrow night--just in case.