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Kaine's Management Message

On the campaign trail last year, Tim Kaine never hesitated to mention Virginia's top-shelf grade in Governing's last management scorecard. So I wasn't too surprised ...

On the campaign trail last year, Tim Kaine never hesitated to mention Virginia's top-shelf grade in Governing's last management scorecard. So I wasn't too surprised last night to hear Governor Kaine brag to a national audience about Virginia's title as America's "Best Managed State."

What did surprise me was how quickly the boasting came--and how much the subject of management in general factored into Kaine's rebuttal to President Bush's State of the Union address. From hurricane response to Iraq and education to health care, Kaine framed Democratic criticisms of the Administration as questions of managerial competence. "No matter what political philosophy you hold, or what state you call home," he said, "you have a right to expect that your government can deliver results."

Is government management emerging as a genuine political issue to be debated around dinner tables? Or is Kaine's management message little more than a convenient narrative through which to tell the same old Washington-doesn't-get-it story?

I don't mean to ignore the President's speech, but I didn't find much there for a state & local audience to chew on. Any other reactions to either of the speeches?

Christopher Swope was GOVERNING's executive editor.
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