From the Archives: Virginia Senate candidate Tim Kaine ponders appeal to third-party voters

Publisher's note: This article was originally published on Examiner.com on September 4, 2012. The Examiner.com publishing platform was discontinued July 1, 2016, and its web site went dark on or about July 10, 2016.  With the impending nomination of Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) as the vice presidential running mate of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, I am republishing this piece in an effort to preserve it and all my other contributions to Examiner.com since April 6, 2010. It is reposted here without most of the internal links that were in the original.

Virginia Senate candidate Tim Kaine ponders appeal to third-party voters

Although former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine was scheduled to address the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte on Tuesday, where he pointed out that “a few years ago, few imagined that Virginia would be a battleground state,” on Monday he was at Buena Vista's Labor Day celebration, campaigning for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Jim Webb.

Because Virginia has gone “from red to purple,” as Kaine put it in his convention speech, polls show the state’s presidential contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is neck-and-neck, and the Senate contest between Kaine and former Senator George Allen is tracking very close to that, a dead heat.

On September 4, the State Board of Elections confirmed that there will be three third-party presidential candidates on the ballot in Virginia, in addition to Obama and Romney: Constitution Party nominee Virgil Goode, Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.

‘Same questions’

Given that some voters will cast their ballots for neither Obama nor Romney on November 6 but rather for one of those three independent candidates, the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner asked Governor Kaine in Buena Vista how he would appeal to those third-party voters to garner their support for his Senate bid.

Tim Kaine

“I bet they have the same questions that other Virginians do,” Kaine replied. Those voters want to know “how to fix the economy, how to balance the budget, how to find common ground.”

Kaine said that he has “a better plan than my opponent in all three of those areas, so I’m making my case to them based on the record but also based on what we need to do on the national level.”

A lot of third party voters, he added, “are interested in the spending issues. I’m the only governor of Virginia who left office with a smaller general fund budget than when I started.”

Kaine explained that that situation may have been due to the fact that he was governor during the onset of a severe recession, but even so, he added, “I had to make a lot of painful cuts.”

Making those kinds of cuts, he pointed out, is something that “very few people in the Senate have had to do.”

George Allen, he said, “didn’t have to do it when he was in the Senate -- but I know how to do it.”

Suggested Links

Tim Kaine argues for balancing individual liberties, communal responsibilities
Senator Jim Webb talks about U.S.-Korea free trade and stability in Asia
In Crozet for Independence Day weekend, George Allen warns of ‘perpetual debt'
Constitution Party presidential nominee Virgil Goode talks politics on Labor Day
Presidential hopeful Gary Johnson on health care, marriage, and Colbert

Because of the demise of the Examiner.com publishing platform, the original URL for this article is no longer available.

Big Bird Leads Romney and Obama in Latest Poll

According to a poll published today by Public Policy Polling (PPP), a North Carolina-based Democratic public opinion firm, Sesame Street's Big Bird is more popular among Virginia voters than either President Barack Obama or GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The tenth question in the 16-question survey asks: "Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Big Bird?" The answers were "Favorable 56%," "Unfavorable 10%," and "Not Sure 34%"

The same question was asked about Mitt Romney, with these answers: "Favorable 52%," "Unfavorable 44%," and "Not sure 4%."

A similar but not identical question was asked about President Obama.

"Do you approve or disapprove of President Barack Obama’s job performance?," with Virginia voters answering: "Approve 50%," "Disapprove 48%," and "Not sure 2%."

Although many voters are uncertain about their opinion regarding Big Bird, the numbers plainly show that he polls four points ahead of Mitt Romney in terms of favorability, and arguably six points ahead of President Obama.

The same poll shows measurable support for two third-party candidates competing for President in Virginia. Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate, has 4 percent, while former Virginia Congressman Virgil Goode, the Constitution Party candidate, has 1 percent. Green Party candidate Jill Stein registers with less than 1 percent.

In Virginia, it appears that, if the election were held today and his name were on the ballot, Big Bird would win the presidential vote in a landslide.

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