Climate change & Appalachian politics: the clash of party and principles

[carolinayellowdog]

2. Fortunately, Tim Kaine is another such voice

"Virginians want to be leaders in this stuff." A Senator who speaks for me!
excerpt
THE ECONOMIC MESSAGE

Democrats are adding to their Obamacare efforts with an economic message. They have made no secret of their intention to pursue economic issues that motivate their voter base, including a minimum-wage increase, equal-pay-for-equal-work legislation, and an extension of long-term unemployment-insurance benefits.

This week, they added climate change to the list of issues. Led by Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Democrats talked overnight on the Senate floor about the perils of man-made climate change. Unlike with the other economic efforts, though, there’s no accompanying legislation, and Republicans roundly criticized the event as a public-relations ploy.

Whether the talkathon produces any meaningful debate or legislation seems dubious. But the issue is popular with Democratic voters in some states. In Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Mark Warner faces Republican challenger and former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, Kaine says he has taken voters’ temperature on the issue and found it to be a winner.

“Virginians want to be leaders in this stuff,” Kaine said. “When I was running in 2012 I asked people—because I’m such a strong believer [that] we’ve got to do something about climate—I asked people what they thought, and Virginians agree, not surprisingly.”