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Virginia Dem. Sen Jim Webb to Retire After One Term

First term Democratic Sen. Jim Webb (VA) will not seek re-election, he announced in a statement today.

"After much thought and consideration I have decided to return to the private sector, where I have spent most of my professional life, and will not seek re-election in 2012. Notwithstanding this decision, I have every intention of remaining involved in the issues that affect the well-being and the future of our country."

Webb, the former Navy Secretary in the Reagan Administration, was the sole Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee to vote on May 27 2010 against adding the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.

Seven months later, Webb's position changed. On December 18 2010, Webb voted for cloture and final repeal on the historic 2010 "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal Act.

The Washington Post adds:

Webb's decision, long anticipated by many in Virginia politics, will make his seat more difficult to hold for his party. Ex-Sen. George Allen (R), who lost the seat in 2006 to Webb, is running to win it back, and a handful of other GOP candidates are also running. Some Democrats hope ex-Gov. Tim Kaine will decide to run for the seat, but he has given no indication yet that he is interested.

It looks like it will be more difficult for the Democrats to retain their Senate majority. Of the 33 Senate seats up for re-election in 2012, 23 are held by Democrats.

MD and VA Govs Slam DC Catholic Archdiocese Over Marriage Threat

The Democratic governors of Maryland and Virginia, both of whom are Catholic, have slammed the Washington D.C. archdiocesefor its ultimatum threatening to stop feeding the poor and operating homeless shelters if the District passes a marriage equality law.

Tim Kaine, left, who is also the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told Washington radio station WTOP: "I'm Catholic, and I think it's wrong. I don't think you take your ball and go home."

WTOP reports

Kaine, who praised the "remarkable" work of the church, says if the Catholic Church opts to end its charitable work in the District, it would "it would set a very bad example." "It's really not who the church has been. If you look at the church through history, the church will stand in tough situations and continue to do good," said Kaine, who has worked as a missionary in Honduras. "I would be very, very disappointed here or anywhere else if the Catholic Church decides 'Gosh, we don't like something that's happening in civil society, so we're going to retreat into our shell.'"

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who also is Catholic, agreed. "I don't understand how they can possibly do this," O'Malley said."I have a hard time believing that the nuns and priests who taught me about the Corporal Works of Mercy would agree that this is an appropriate response for the church," he said. "I think it would be very, very sad for all concerned, especially for the people who are served by the good work of the Catholic Church acting out the Gospels."

The Washington D.C. City Council will take the first of two required votes on marriage equality on December 1st. The District of Columbia is poised to become the only jurisdiction south of the Mason-Dixon line where same-sex marriage is legal.

Earl Fowlkes Appointed to DNC, Only Black Gay on Committee

The Democratic National Committee voted last week to welcome six new LGBT members appointed by DNC Chair and Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine. One of the new LGBT members includes black pride activist and political consultant Earl Fowlkes, "believed to be the only African American openly LGBT person" on the 447 member body.

The Washington DC-based Fowlkes is a member of the board of the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute, an arm of the Victory Fund, and president of the International Federation of Black Prides.

The DNC also welcomed Barbra Casbar Siperstein, a transgender woman to its ranks, "the first time that a major U.S. political party has appointed an openly transgender person to its national governing body," reports the Washington Blade. The other LGBT appointees include: Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund co-founder Terry Bean; Evan Low, a member of the Campbell (CA) City Council; Sheriff Lupe Valdez of Dallas; and Randi Weingarten of New York City, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Hopefully the six new LGBT members of the DNC will lobby Congress and pressure the White House to move on our issues, such as ENDA and a "Don't Ask Don't Tell" repeal. Hopefully.

Anti-Gay Kaine Reportedly "Very, Very High" on Obama's VP List

Amplifying predictions we made earlier in the season, the front page of The Washington Post reports the gay-baiting and anti-gay Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine reportedly has had "serious conversations" with the Barack Obama campaign for the vice-presidential slot: The governor "has provided documents to the campaign as it combs through his background, according to several sources close to Kaine. Sens. Evan Bayh (Ind.) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) are also being seriously vetted by the campaign staff, according to sources with knowledge of the process."

The Politico also quotes campaign sources who say Kaine is "very, very high on the short list."

Choosing the first term Virginia governor for the number two slot appears to be the conventional wisdom, albeit a bland and uninspiring choice. The Dixiecrat endorsed Obama early in the primary and is anti-choice, pro-death penalty and supported the Iraq War—the perfect resume for the "post-partisan" Republican lite politics of the new "Democratic" Party.The icing on the cake is Kaine's woeful record on gay rights—against gay adoption, partner benefits, discrimination legislation, and ,of course, against same-sex marriage and supported the amendment that now bans gay marriage in the Commonwealth. The Virginia governor also has the distinction of running one of the more creative gay-baiting campaigns in recent history, branding his anti-gay Republican opponent "having a gay sounding voice." Kaine is hardly presidential timber—more like pressed plywood.

Why is Kaine even necessary? His record as governor is mixed, and, to be quite honest, Obama was supposed to be able to win Virginia on his own. Big Tent Democrat at Talk Left is similarly unimpressed with Kaine's resume and slaps down Kos' gushing of Kaine as Obam's "Al Gore." "To recap, Kaine was a City Councilman in Richmond for 4 terms, a two term Mayor of Richmond, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia for 4 years and Governor of Virginia for 3 years. No Al Gore there."

Oh, and I'm eagerly awaiting for any of the "progressive" or gay e-telligentsia to say Kaine will be a "bold" choice as veep or the vice presidential candidate "doesn't have to be pro-choice or pro-gay rights" Please send the links, I will laugh and rip them a new one.

Kaine in 'Serious' Talks With Obama [WaPo]
Kaine 'Very, Very High' on VP Shortlist [Politico]
The Veep Pick: Gore In 92 [Talk Left]

Virginia Gov. Endorses Obama

Barack Obama, the Illinois junior senator and Democratic presidential hopeful, has picked up the endorsement of a key Red State governor. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine becomes the second governor to endorse Obama, and the first outside the senator’s home state of Illinois.

Kaine is a conservative Democrat who is against choice and same-sex marriage; Obama is pro-choice and prefers civil unions. Putting aside those differences, the governor hosted an Obama fundraiser and focused on the candidate's "big tent" philosophy. “What you see in Senator Obama is excellence that begins with values,” Kaine said. He said Obama had focused on hard issues like “ethics reform in Illinois, and in a very difficult political environment trying to reform a death penalty law.” The governor noted Obama will “help us get into a politics that is better, a politics that is a lot more about results and about people than about toting up a win or a loss for a party or a partisan position.”

Both the governor and senator said Virginia will be in play for a Democratic presidential candidate in 2008. Obama faces Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)& ; and perhaps as many as eight other Democrats in a February 12 statewide primary.

On a side note, it's more than somewhat ironic that a Virginia governor endorsed a black man for president in Richmond, Virginia—once the capitol of the Confederacy. This was also the first state to elect a black governor, L. Douglas Wilder in 1989,

Kaine Backs Obama (Daily Progress)

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