by Kenneth T. Walsh

It's all on the line for both parties in the midterm elections this fall, but there is a special challenge for Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Kaine, the former governor of Virginia, needs to defend his party's majorities in the House and Senate amid a storm of anti-incumbent anger, and his answer is to mount an aggressive offense against the Republicans.

He previewed his ambitious campaign strategy in a recent interview. Excerpts:

How is the November election shaping up?

The campaign is going to be a very stark choice between a president and a party that have been about getting results, tackling tough issues in the most challenging economy since the 1930s, and a Republican Party that has decided to focus purely on obstruction, often in the service of status-quo special interests that have hurt everyday Americans. That's the choice that we see in the fall.

What will Democrats do to pitch themselves to voters skeptical about a struggling economy?

We're going to lay out the record of success in turning around an economy in free fall. We're going to point out to the American public that we are now climbing again. And the last thing we should do is take the reins away from the party that is solving problems and enabling us to climb out and put them back into the hands of the folks that ran it into the ditch.

What are voters' top concerns?

I think the main issue is continuing to want to see the economic recovery move forward. If you look at jobs, or GDP, or the stock market in the last 18 months of the Bush administration and the first 15 months of the Obama administration, you see a pretty sharp turnaround point right around Inauguration Day. But we are not yet where we want to be.

What would happen if the GOP took over Congress?

They've not articulated an agenda other than stopping the president. That's their strategy right now, so putting Republicans in control would mean that the old Washington of gridlock, inaction, and inertia with control by special interests would [return] rather than the results-focused politics that we're putting in place.

Why did Republicans win the recent elections in New Jersey, Virginia, and Massachusetts?

Midterm elections for first-term presidents are notoriously difficult. Since Teddy Roosevelt was president, the average is, you lose 28 House seats, four Senate seats, and [some] governor's races, and we're not living in average times. So economic anxiety creates more electoral volatility, and so that is certainly to be expected. We've won six out of six special races in Congress since Election Day, but clearly those three races were very important races; we wanted to win them, we didn't. The midterm headwinds are setting in, so what we need to do is recognize, and I say this to all Democrats, we've got headwinds blowing, and the odds are tough, but if we do this right, and we talk about the achievements that we've been able to make in a very difficult time, that will be an appealing message both to energize Democrats but also to convince independents. Independents like results, and I think we've got a good track record to bring to them.

How will the DNC appeal to the new voters who helped elect President Obama in 2008 to make sure they get to the polls this cycle?

We will recognize that these first-time voters largely registered because they were excited by President Obama, that they still are very strongly supportive of him. We will communicate with them almost in a person-to-person way using our Organizing for America network of community organizers and volunteers. We will make the case to them that these elections are very, very important to the president's continued success on the agenda that they voted for him on. And we think that kind of person-to-person touch is going to be very, very important in increasing the turnout of these voters significantly above what would be a normal midterm turnout.

 

Available at Amazon.com:

The Virtues of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics

Bush on the Home Front: Domestic Policy Triumphs and Setbacks

The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy, from the Grassroots to the White House

 

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