Kaine enters round three on roads

IT'S EASIER to make your case to a captive audience of 12 jurors than to 140 restless and cranky politicians.

Gov. Tim Kaine, a lawyer by trade, has a style of leadership that relies heavily on an appeal to the intellect of his target audience. He's been methodically building a case for 27 months that Virginia requires a costly fix to its transportation network. Sometimes, his audience responds with a Bronx cheer, as when House Speaker Bill Howell dismissed an hourlong briefing last week on road maintenance needs as "dubious at best."

Although his message hasn't changed, Kaine has gradually altered his delivery. In Year One, the new governor quickly assembled a package of motor vehicle and insurance taxes and lobbed it into the laps of lawmakers, who scattered to the winds. In Year Two, he took a more conciliatory approach toward Republicans, working with them on a compromise plan and leaving fellow Democrats to watch from the sidelines.

With that plan in shambles because of legal problems with its regionally imposed taxes, Kaine has shifted tactics again as he prepares to call lawmakers back for another transportation special session.

"I have just been doing a lot of shuttle diplomacy," he said last week. "My goal has been to do a lot of that discussion without doing anything really visible."

Lawmakers say the below-the-radar approach is more likely to succeed.

"It's a maturation process," said Del. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk. "He's taking a lower profile and is being more strategic."

The governor is weary of constant comparisons to his predecessor. Mark Warner was a professional deal-maker who passed a 2004 tax increase after months of obsessing over strategy details and one-on-one sales pitches to lawmakers for their votes.

Kaine hasn't fixated on roads to the exclusion of other pet projects. He's still heavily involved in talks on bonds for college and mental health improvements. He's resisted advice from some Democrats to take Republican budget priorities hostage in order to win transportation votes, but also rejected partisan urgings that he allow traffic congestion to worsen and use it as an election issue in 2009 legislative races.

"The first priority is to fix the problem," he said. "I've never approached this primarily as a political matter."

Kaine's first step is to corral his own team toward consensus. Senate Democrats want to flex their new majority power with a hefty fuel tax increase that is stirring up bipartisan jitters in the House of Delegates. Kaine hasn't settled on a single approach but has signaled interest in a combination of sales, fuel and motor vehicle taxes.

Whichever plan he chooses, those who wish him well say it will take a powerful force of will to succeed.

"There's certainly an intellectual argument to be made here, but in the political realm where there are many opinions, intellect alone isn't going to get you there," said former Transportation Commissioner Philip Shucet. "He's got to bring a clarity of purpose that is razor sharp. He's got to say, 'This is why we're here.'"

Christina Nuckols is an editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot. E-mail her at christina.nuckols@pilotonline.com.