The Southern Difference
The third in a series examining the policy alignment of the Democratic presidential nominee and the pols rumored to be on his vice-presidential short-list.
VA Gov. Tim Kaine has differed with Barack Obama on one of the most hotly-debated topics of the summer: offshore oil exploration and production.
Kaine said during his campaign for governor that he supported lifting the federal moratorium on offshore drilling. In an October ‘05 debate, he told UVA’s Larry Sabato: "I would support a lifting of the moratorium for purposes of exploration. Before we … allow drilling to begin wholesale off the East Coast, we need to have some exploration to determine what is there and if it's worth our pursuing it further, recognizing there may be some environmental consequences. Exploration is a good thing."
After Kaine was elected, however, a VA state senator wrote a bill recommending an end to the ban, and the Bush administration announced it wanted to study oil and natural gas development in a 6.1M-acre area off the VA coast.
VA pols came under pressure from the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife to oppose the measure, and Kaine ultimately vetoed the bill, defending the move in an April ’06 presser: "The federal moratorium is a federal policy based on a cost-benefit calculation . . . that the cost of offshore drilling currently outweighs the benefits. They haven't changed that. This bill, as drafted, said: 'No, the benefits outweigh the costs.' Before we make that determination, we need to make sure that that's really the case."
Kaine Comm. Dir. Delacey Skinner told On Call that Kaine endorses the Commonwealth position on drilling, which allows for exploration 50 miles off the coast for natural gas only.
“I think the governor supports the approach Obama has taken, which is essentially a comprehensive plan that looks at the possibility of drilling for oil,” she added. “But Obama has strong support for states making individual decisions on that, so I wouldn’t say those two things are in conflict. He’s not advocating ‘drill here, drill now’ as the only approach.”
Kaine and Obama also differ on the death penalty. Kaine is opposed, a reflection of his Catholic faith, while Obama has expressed support. "I would like that there be no death penalty in Virginia, absolutely," Kaine said during his gubernatorial campaign.
The Nation’s Nichols on Kaine:
“He has presided over executions as governor -- explaining that, as a lawyer, he accepts even laws that go against his personal faith -- but he has also vetoed five death penalty expansion bills since becoming governor. And in June of this year, he commuted the death sentence of Percy Levar Walton -- a Virginian convicted and sentenced to death for three murders -- to life in prison without parole. Testing showed that Walton had an I.Q. of 66 and may have lacked the cognitive skills to understand his crime and the punishment he faced, but that subtlety is unlikely to be highlighted in Republican attack ads.”
Kaine's personal opposition to abortion is clear on the same religious grounds, yet as with death penalty, he’s shown little hesitation in upholding existing laws and has scarcely tried to lobby on the issue.
Kaine has been more of a chameleon on gun control. In ’00, as Richmond mayor, he used $6K from a municipal account to send eight buses to the anti-gun Million Mom March in DC; when the expense became publicly controversial, he reimbursed the fund out of his own pocket.
But he pledged not to expand gun control measures during his ’05 race for governor, and he took a circumspect stance on new gun restrictions after the Virginia Tech massacre of ’07. In an early interview about the tragedy, Kaine said of new gun control laws, “I think that people who want to take this within 24 hours of the event and make it their political hobby horse to ride ... I've got nothing but loathing for them.”
He eventually pushed for new restrictions on gun show sales and mandated that those seeking court-ordered mental treatment be barred from owning firearms.
(Hotline's NICHOLAS TABOR)
