Inside Politics

Picking Kaine

“Expectations that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine will be installed as chairman of the Democratic National Committee by President-elect Barack Obama suggest strongly that the party headquarters will continue the move by outgoing Chairman Howard Dean to expand the party beyond its old 18-state model,” Paul Bedard writes in the Washington Whispers column at www.usnews.com.

“Party officials say Obama’s pick of Kaine indicates that the new president both wants to reward and recognize support from traditionally GOP states like Kaine’s Virginia and to expand the party’s march into Republican territory. Kaine backed Obama very early in the Democratic primaries and helped to turn the home of the Confederacy into a Democratic state that backed Obama in the general election,” Mr. Bedard observed.

“The officials said that Kaine would be the second party chairman to move away from the old, urban-state-based approach of sustaining support in 18 key states to a more expansive approach that is likely to include outreach in Southern states and traditional Republican strongholds like Texas.

“One official said that like Obama and Dean, Kaine understands the value in toning down the harsh partisan rhetoric while reaching out to new voters. Dean’s move was controversial four years ago, but now even his critics give him credit for rebuilding the party in all 50 states, a move that the Obama campaign was able to piggyback off in its 2008 victory.”

Relaxed Bush

“Bush’s critics - and especially the left-wing haters - are going to be disappointed when they see his demeanor as he leaves his eight-year presidency,” the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes writes, describing a recent lunch he and William Kristol had with the president.

“In our conversation, he wasn’t bitter or downcast or pessimistic, nor was he boastful or disdainful. He appears comfortable with what he expects his legacy will be, including a battle against Islamist terrorists that [will] endure under President [-elect] Obama,” Mr. Barnes said.

“In recent weeks, Bush has been interviewed more than a dozen times about his years in the White House, though not by either the New York Times or The Washington Post. And there are more interviews to come, including several with Texas reporters and one this week with Brit Hume of Fox News Channel.

“During our conversation, Bush occasionally spoke off the record and several times ‘really’ off the record. He talked lightheartedly about being surprised when lectured on global warming at his first meeting with European Union leaders. He wasn’t persuaded to change his view. Now the new EU president, Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus, is a global warming skeptic.

“On the Middle East, Bush said the key moment in his becoming strongly pro-Israel - unlike his father, President George H.W. Bush - was a visit in 1998 just after he’d been re-elected governor of Texas. Ariel Sharon, then Israeli settlements minister, flew him by helicopter over Israel and the West Bank. He saw firsthand, Bush says, how vulnerable Israel, a democratic ally, is to attack.”

Making history

“So, this is Change We Can Believe In?” the New York Post’s Charles Hurt writes.

“It’s more like the same old change we’ve heard jingling in the pockets of politicians since the beginning of time. And it’s the same dirty change that has landed the bums in jail since the beginning of democracy,” Mr. Hurt said.

“Barack Obama hasn’t even made history yet by getting into the White House, but he’s already making history for the number of serious scandals between his election and his inauguration.

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