DNC Chair Says America Is Now Half Blue, Half Red

By Kyle LaFleur

Former Virginia Governor and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine addressed reporters at DNC Headquarters briefly during election night to show his optimism for the Democrats’ chances.

“Once the West Virginia and Connecticut races tipped our way, it made it very difficult for [Republicans],” Kaine said while touting the fact that only a few months ago many, believed the Democrats would lose both houses.  

The Chairman said he took Democrat Rick Boucher’s loss in his Virginia congressional race personally and that now that state can be seen as a microcosm of the entire nation. 

“Maybe it is a message from the American public,” Kaine said. “We got a Democrat in the White House. We’ll have maybe a majority of Republican governors. We’ll have a Democratic Senate and a Republican House. Everybody’s got to to work together and thats what I know the President will focus on.”

DNC Sporting New Look

By Kyle LaFleur — Talk Radio News Service

The Democratic National Committee today unveiled a new logo, slogan and website during an event held on the campus of George Washington University in Washington, D.C.  

The new party logo is a light blue D with a darker blue circle around it that sits above the new slogan, “Change that Matters.” 

“The new identity of the party captures that spirit and unites us all,” said DNC Chairman Tim Kaine. “Democrats, all of us, working for the changes that matter.”

The website allows users to connect with a multitude of Democratic groups, view multimedia materials and use social media to connect with the party. The site also detects where the viewer is in order to give them more tailored information on their local Democratic candidates.

“It’s highly local and highly action orientated,” said DNC New Media Director Natalie Foster.

With less than eight weeks until the midterm elections, Democrats hope this new look and web presence will help to sway voters to keep them in the majority.

“We are unveiling it now because there are tools that matter for this election now and we want voters to have everything they need at their finger tips,” said Foster.

DNC Chairman Cites Republican Hypocrisy Over Stimulus

By Monique Cala - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

At least 87 Republicans have shown hypocritical actions toward the Recovery Act by denouncing its merits in public, but attending ‘ribbon cutting ceremonies’ for local projects funded by the bill, said Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tim Kaine on Tuesday.

“The very same Republicans who indignantly raised a hand in opposition to the Act, have extended the other hand in many cases to ask for and accept funds from it for projects in their states and districts,” said Kaine.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was signed one year ago Friday by President Obama, was a $787 billion piece of legislation designed to stimulate the nation's spiraling economy.

“One year ago, when the President was inaugurated, the country was averaging more than 700,000 jobs lost every month,” said Kaine. “The Recovery Act has reduced that number to just a fraction of where we would have been had we gone along either with congressional Republicans' plan to do nothing, or simply do more of what President Bush and others did over the past decade to get us into this mess.”

According to Kaine, the list of 87 lawmakers includes Senators, Congressmen and Governors who either referred to the Recovery Act as 'socialism,' or called for its repeal, but then used money from it to strengthen their achievements.

You can view a complete list at Hypocrisy Hall of Fame.

RNC Takes Swipe At DNC’s Tim Kaine

While Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele has been on the receiving end of a non-stop stream of criticism, his organization took aim Wednesday at his Democratic counterpart, Tim Kaine.

“The DNC under Kaine has been a ‘disaster’,” a newly released RNC research brief states, invoking a statement former Democratic National Committee member Steven Ybarra recently made to the Los Angeles Times.

The brief goes on to claim that the DNC has also had difficulty outpacing RNC fundraising efforts, citing a release from the Federal Elections Committee that found the DNC had only raised only thousands more than the RNC by the end of 2009.

Kaine simultaneously served as both Governor and Democratic National Committee Chair for much of 2009, a year that brought his party election losses in Virginia and New Jersey’s gubernatorial races. After Kaine’s replacement as governor by Republican Bob McDonnell, Democrats suffered another defeat when the opposition party claimed the Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy.

The RNC’s brief comes shortly after Douglas Wilder, another former Virginia governor, published an opinion piece on politico.com claiming that the Kaine’s chairmanship position was “the wrong job for him.”

Still, the shot against Kaine from the RNC seems surprising. The inner-party troubles facing Kaine seem nearly paltry in comparison to those plaguing the RNC’s Steele. Congressional Republicans have moved to block the former Maryland Lt. Governor from policy decisions, and a conference call between the RNC and Capitol Hill staffers reportedly grew heated after Steele mused in an interview that Republicans were “not ready” to win back the House. In addition, other high-profile gaffes have become You Tube gold.

However, it may be too early to judge either chairman’s performance. Both parties have had only a handful of special elections by which to measure their committees’ effectiveness and the true standard-bearer for both organizations is still on the horizon: the 2010 midterm election.

High demand, but very low funding for transportation investments

Virginia governor Tim Kaine and Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters spoke at the State Summit on Innovative Transportation Funding and Financing.

Kaine said that every state is struggling to find funding for infrastructure. He said that Virginia has the third largest state-managed road system, but is underinvested in rail and public transportation. He said that with Virginia’s great dependence on roads, the aging highway system, and rising construction costs, new funding solutions are necessary. He predicted that gas prices would continue to rise, making investments in alternative transportation an urgent initiative.

Secretary Peters also said that every state is struggling to keep up with the demand for transportation investments. She said a population that is increasingly against raising taxes, especially the gas tax, makes finding funds very difficult. She said that Americans do not believe that an increase in the gas tax will translate to more efficient transportation. To help with the funding crisis, she plans to increase state rather than federal control of transportation funding and decrease federal restrictions on toll roads.