November 09, 2005

Other Dems Who "Won" In VA

Three interesting items we meant to post last night about Kaine's acceptance speech. First was the front-and-center presence on stage of the inimitable ex-Gov/Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder. He did not speak, but the canny and calculating Wilder was lauded by both Kaine and Warner in their remarks. This is remarkable (and perhaps a testament to Wilder's staying power) given that a) he endorsed Kaine less than a week before election day b) he did NOT endorse Kaine's other two ticketmates and c) he blasted Warner for the '04 tax increases in a letter that he ran in full as an Op-Ed in Sunday's Richmond Times-Dispatch. [JONATHAN MARTIN]

Second was the presence of a taller, middle-aged gentleman standing directly behind Kaine's right shoulder. Danny LeBlanc has been head of the VA AFL-CIO since 1990 and is a key player in VA Dem politics. But VA is a right-to-work state, and few statewide candidates -- Dem or GOP -- have ever done anything but pledged fealty to VA's right-to-work status. Does LeBlanc's visibility on stage with Kaine (which brought us memories of Firefighter union head Harold Schaitberger's mustachioed smile on John Kerry during all those primary night election parties earlier this year) signal a deeper embrace between Kaine and labor? Should the VA Chamber be worried? Perhaps we are reading too much into a loyal campaign supporter and veteran strategist getting a primo spot on stage, but keep this in mind -- Kaine took well over $1M from organized labor. Warner and VA's Dem GOV candidates in '97 and '93 took under $200K.

The other very visible and notable presence on stage next to Kaine was one that had not been seen all campaign -- that of his wife, Anne Holton. Holton, the daughter of VA's first GOP gov, is a juvenile judge in Richmond and had not been able to do anything campaign-related for her husband.

Posted at 01:00 PM

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