Kaine decision on Senate bid unlikely by this weekend
Washington (CNN) - Don't expect an announcement this Saturday at the Democratic National Committee's winter meetings by DNC Chairman Tim Kaine on whether he'll run for the open Senate seat in Virginia.
DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan tells CNN that there's been no change in the timetable for the former Virginia governor to decide if he'll make a Senate bid. Earlier this month, after Democratic Sen. Jim Webb announced that he wouldn't run for re-election next year, the DNC said that Kaine would decide by early March.
Kaine spoke by phone with President Barack Obama last week about a potential Senate bid in Virginia. And the President told television station WWBT in Richmond, Virginia that he thinks Kaine "would be a great senator from Virginia if he chose to do that."
The conventional wisdom is that the White House is pressuring Kaine to run to keep the seat in party hands, but a source with knowledge of the situation tells CNN that the White House is giving Kaine space on this decision and that there's "no arm twisting at any level."
Webb's decision has left Virginia Democrats scrambling to find a strong candidate to run in his place. Former Sen. George Allen is hoping to recapture his seat, which he lost to Webb in the 2006 election, but must first survive a primary campaign against at least one conservative rival, Richmond-area Tea Party activist Jamie Radtke.
Kaine is by far the most prominent name on the roster of possible Democratic candidates – a list that also includes former Reps. Tom Perriello and Rick Boucher.
- CNN's Peter Hamby and Alex Mooney contributed to this report
–Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
From CNN Politics
- Lawmakers reluctant to pursue gun control measures following Nashville school shooting
- 10 Cards Charging 0% Interest Until 2024
- DeSantis plans to travel to Jerusalem as tumult strains Netanyahu-Biden relationship
- Harris faces painful Black history in emotional slave outpost visit
- Kentucky law aimed at increasing parental oversight in education takes effect
- New York grand jury won't hear Trump case again this week
You're kidding right?! This clown ran the Democrats 2010 election and rumor is it didn't turn out so well for the Democrats. Good luck! I doubt the people of Virginia are dumb enough to elect this loser.
kaine is tied to the hip to obama.... obama poll no. is heading south fast... also thanks to obama and holdesr ruling on homosexuals marriage.. he just lost the rual voters....kaine is smart and wont fall on the sword for obama....
Spending our Way to Financial Collapse
You're kidding right?! This clown ran the Democrats 2010 election and rumor is it didn't turn out so well for the Democrats. Good luck! I doubt the people of Virginia are dumb enough to elect this loser.
-------------------------------------------------–
Well WE elected him governor and he did a good job at that. Better than the current governor who is slashing teacher jobs and set aside April to commemorate the Confedracy. I'd prefer Kaine over this clown McDonald anyday.
Kaine did nothing for this state except to pass the largest tax increase in the history of the state and then wanted another tax increase just before he left office.. Tax and spend is all he knows how to do. He left this state in the red even with his tax increases. No way I would ever vote for this man; no way.
Kaine is a shoe in. There is no way Virginia would elect anyone other than Kaine from the looks of what the other candidate has to offer, absolutely nothing.
Republican poll numbers in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio are dropping as voters are beginning to see that the Koch brothers and Fox are running the bagger party into the sewer. Personally, I think the republican sewer rats are committing sewer-cide.
He knows he a long shot and sure loser in the state of Virginia.
"to Name King: Hate to tell you that those high end items like homes and transportation are bought and owned by government employees like teachers. Ask around in the high end neighborhoods and you will find government inspectors, teachers, professors, dept. managers, clerks, mail carriers, etc... living there. Wake up and smell the coffee."
Studies have proven that state public employees earn on average 5% LESS than their counterparts in the private sector. That's the FACT, jack. Non-evidentiary claims that government employees are earning more than everyone else as a way of sucking off the gov't teat are entirely baseless and are being sold by the people who most want the gov't out of their way so they can further reduce your wages, increase your hours and attenuate your benefits: your private sector giant corporation employers. Try blaming the people responsible for the rip off of a life we're leading instead of those who were smart enough to make sure they were getting some modicum of respect in the workplace. Your resentment of state public employees is not only baseless but also misplaced. Perhaps you should be looking at the spigot and wondering why nothing's trickling down despite the cistern overflowing.
Please Kaine run!..... The Dems probably would have lost BOTH chambers of Congress if not for him. He could win in Virginia!
The Dem's really need some fresh new leadership in the Senate. Kaine is relatively young and has potential to be a real leader in the Senate. The Senate has become too stagnant and dominated by Big $ lobbyists.
Kaine and the Democrats are still doing their own independent polling in Virginia--to see if he has a chance of winning. The polling must not be looking too good for Kaine-if he is not able to make a decision by now. He does not want to run and make a fool out of himself, by getting clobbered at the polls.