Kaine should make travel records public

Gov. Tim Kaine's second job - as head of the Democratic National Committee - has him traveling a lot, working the party faithful in places like North Carolina, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Missouri and Ohio over the past few months.

But, despite his high-profile jobs, he'd apparently prefer to go about his dueling duties with some sort of secrecy. Several organizations, including The Washington Post and the Republican Party of Virginia, have submitted requests under the Freedom of Information Act for the governor's schedule and have been denied.

"Kaine's office cites security and privacy concerns, as well as state law, court rulings and precedent, in declining to release a full schedule of his travels and activities," The Post wrote. "Requests for travel records and the cost of his security detail were also denied."

Perhaps officials are worried about people traveling back in time to do the governor harm? Otherwise, it's hard to explain what security value there is in refusing to release the governor's past itineraries.

Even so, the RPV late last week decided to end its pursuit of the governor's records down the avenue that runs through Virginia's courts.

"We remain disappointed that the governor refuses to be forthcoming about his whereabouts when he conducts business for his national political party, particularly when it appears that the vast majority of his known trips have occurred during the normal work week.

"The governor has been quoted in a number of media outlets expressing his willingness to discuss his activities if people directly ask him about it. We made just such an inquiry - and even formalized it in the form of a written FOIA request - but were turned away."

Rather than jealously guarding prerogatives, this is more likely a form of higher political calculus. The RPV repeatedly characterizes the governor as a part-timer doing his DNC work on the state dime.

"What does he have to hide?" House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith told The Post. "He knows he can't do both jobs. Is that why he's hiding?"

If that kind of rhetoric sounds familiar, it should. Past governors - Doug Wilder, George Allen, Jim Gilmore - have all been hammered by political opponents for having the temerity to look beyond their current gigs. Virginians hate to think we don't have our executive's full attention.

Still, embarrassment and political cover are no excuse for exploiting loopholes in FOIA, especially when it's unclear how state law applies to a job - head of the DNC - that should have nothing whatsoever to do with the administration of state government.