Anti-gun Virginia Governor to Become DNC Chairman

Barack Obama has named Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to take over the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. The incumbent President typically gets to name the party head. Kaine told Obama that he would not accept a cabinet level position in the new administration and instead wanted to finish his term as Governor. So, it should come as no surprise that Obama decided to reward Kaine in this way for his hard work on behalf of the campaign. With Kaine as head of the DNC, Obama has chosen another politician with solid anti-gun credentials to join his team (with NM Governor Bill Richardson having been the exception -but now even he is gone after withdrawing his name from nomination today).

Kaine was well known as an anti-gun zealot before he became Governor. But after watching his predecessor Mark Warner win the State House running as a friend of gun owners and then never vetoing any of the pro-gun legislation that hit his desk, Kaine decided he needed to follow Warner's successful trek to the Governor's Mansion.

Kaine has signed one pro-gun bill of substance - the bill outlawing N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg's firearm straw purchase schemes, as well as some minor pro-gun bills. But the two most important pro-gun bills to pass during his term - the bill repealing the restaurant ban and the bill allowing non-CHP holders to carry concealed firearms in private motor vehicles if stored locked in container - were both vetoed. Kaine is also famous for having tried to use public funds to support the 2000 Million Mom March while he was Mayor of the City of Richmond.

We shall see if his term as DNC chair will be more successful than his term as Governor where the only successes have been political - taking back control of the State Senate for his party and turning Virginia "Blue" in the last election.