But while Kaine is fully invested in helping to elect Deeds, campaign officials realize it's not always politically beneficial for Deeds to be publicly associated with him. His popularity rating remains above 50 percent but is waning, and his position as chairman of the Democratic National Committee brings with it the burdens of a national party that voters are viewing with increasing skepticism. Some Democrats have also privately criticized the governor for oddly timed announcements that had the effect of overshadowing Deeds campaign events.Well, I guess my conclusion to all this is threefold: 1) this is politics, and you do what you've gotta do to win; 2) this situation is totally unsurprising, given the many hats everyone's wearing here, Kaine's declining poll numbers, and also the complex state and national political (and personal) dynamics at play; 3) Kaine, a smart politician, "gets it," but I wonder if he's got some mixed personal feelings; and 4) I'd encourage Deeds to go even further and talk about how he'd govern differently than Tim Kaine in a wide variety of areas, given that a lot of people aren't happy with the direction of the Commonwealth right now and want change.
As a result, Deeds has subtly sought to limit his public connections to Kaine, a strategy the politically savvy governor has blessed. On Friday, for instance, Deeds aired his first television ad of the general election campaign. It includes a clip of Deeds walking with Sen. Mark Warner (D), but makes no mention of Kaine.
[...]
...in recent weeks, some of Kaine's actions -- and inactions -- have puzzled Deeds's supporters.
Kaine's gubernatorial office scheduled major news conferences on the same days as Obama's visit and Deeds's announcement that a slew of Republican legislators were supporting him. Kaine's second-largest individual donor, close friend Sheila Johnson, endorsed McDonnell without Deeds being notified ahead of time. And Kaine apparently did not intervene when the White House asked former governor L. Douglas Wilder to support Deeds -- a move that became public and drew attention to Wilder's uncertainty.
Deeds downplayed any conflicts with Kaine, but the campaign did confront the governor about the timing of at least one of the news conferences, according to senior staffers.
With that, enjoy the video of "Separate Ways" by Journey (on the Ellen DeGeneres Show), with their current (amazingly good) lead singer Arnel Pineda. :)
