By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 20, 2007
RICHMOND, April 19 -- It's the phone call that can change a governor's reputation and job in an instant.
After enduring a 14-hour flight to Tokyo, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and his wife had just settled into their hotel room when his top aides phoned at 1 a.m. Tokyo time Tuesday to tell him about the Virginia Tech shootings, 13 time zones away.
Kaine, who was starting a two-week trade mission to Asia, spent the next five hours pacing in front of televisions at the hotel, a coffee shop and an airport lounge as he waited for a flight home.
"Our first thought was, 'We need to get home,' " Kaine said this week.
Now that he's back in Virginia, Kaine is discovering what governors across the country have said is the hardest part of the job: taking control after a disaster or a major incident, such as the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.
As he tries to console a grieving state, oversee the response to the shooting and look for ways to lessen the chance that it can happen again, Kaine finds himself immersed in the biggest test of his 15-month-old administration.
The political stakes are enormous for Kaine, who is prohibited by Virginia law from seeking a second consecutive term. The public will form an opinion of Kaine's handling of the Virginia Tech incident. If people rally behind him, it could be easier for him to accomplish his other goals as governor.
"Given the unprecedented outcome, and losing 33 people, it seems he will be forever seen in the context of having been on the job as governor when this madman set loose," said former Pennsylvania governor Mark Schweiker (R). "That is why I would rush to say, Governor Kaine's comportment and presence and persistence is key. Handling those aspects well will serve him well."
In 2002, Schweiker oversaw the successful effort to free nine miners who were trapped in a southwestern Pennsylvania coal mine for four days. Schweiker's popularity soared after the rescues.
Frank Atkinson, a top aide to former governor George Allen (R), said the public can learn a lot about a governor during a crisis.
"You have to tap all your capabilities and your whole repertoire, from providing consultation and reassurance to dealing with the crisis-management aspect," Atkinson said.
As President Bush and then-New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, now a GOP presidential hopeful, discovered after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, effectively managing a disaster can have big political payoffs.
Just as quickly, though, the public can swiftly turn against leaders whom they perceive as mishandling a big event.
Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) saw his national stature rise after he was widely praised for his calm, deliberative response to Hurricane Katrina. But Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D), who was criticized as timid and ineffective, decided not to seek reelection as Louisiana governor this year because her popularity had plunged after the storm.
Even though the shootings at Virginia Tech don't rival Katrina's destruction and death count, officials are so far praising Kaine's response.
"He deserves an A-plus," said Del. David A. Nutter (R), who represents Blacksburg in the General Assembly and is an economics specialist at Virginia Tech. "Governor Kaine did a great job representing the commonwealth greatly, and his administration has just been there for us and helped Tech a lot."
While still in Tokyo, Kaine declared a state of emergency and dispatched disaster response teams and additional medical examiners to Blacksburg. Upon his return, Kaine traveled with Bush to take part in Tuesday's convocation at Virginia Tech, where he delivered an uplifting speech to the students and faculty.
Kaine then met privately with victims' family members before taking part in a news conference, where he announced that, at the university's request, he would appoint a task force to look into the shootings.
On Wednesday morning, Kaine held a dozen media interviews before going to hospitals to meet with survivors. On Thursday, Kaine announced five additional panel members, pledging that they will examine every aspect of the shooting and the gunman.
But Kaine's job is far from done.
In the weeks ahead, current and former elected officials say, Kaine will be judged on how he responds to the panel's recommendations.
Kaine will also have to respond to questions about whether the state's policies on gun control, campus safety and services for the mentally ill could have contributed to the shooting. Kaine's own beliefs could be scrutinized, such as his decision last month to sign a bill that makes it harder for New York and other cities to prove that Virginia is the source of some illegal gun crime.
The bill, a priority of gun rights advocates, puts restrictions on private investigators who want to gather intelligence on gun dealers' methods. New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (R) was sending private investigators to Virginia to do that.
Schweiker suggested that Kaine find an opportunity to turn Virginia into a national model for college campus safety, similar to how Rhode Island Gov. Donald L. Carcieri (R) pushed for tough new fire-safety standards in buildings after a nightclub fire killed 100 people in his state in 2003.
"There will come a time when communities and public safety professionals and parents are going to ask what good can come of this," Schweiker said.
Kaine said as much Thursday in discussing the independent review. "What we learn could result in fresh ideas that will help bolster the safety of our young people on campuses in communities across the country," he said.
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