Va.'s Kaine Assails 'Poor Choices, Bad Management' (WP says good Dem respo

[papau]

The Washington Post says Kaine's response was generally well-received by TV pundits.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/31/AR2006013101218_pf.html

Va.'s Kaine Assails 'Poor Choices, Bad Management'
By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 1, 2006; A01

RICHMOND, Jan. 31 -- Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) capped an extraordinary day in the national political spotlight Tuesday by offering the Democratic Party's response to President Bush's State of the Union speech.

In a live broadcast from the ballroom of the Executive Mansion in Richmond, Kaine assailed the administration's performance in Iraq, its response to Hurricane Katrina and its management of the nation's health care system. He urged Bush to restore the competence Kaine said is lacking in government administration.

"The federal government should serve the American people," Kaine said. "But that mission is frustrated by this administration's poor choices and bad management.

"Families in the Gulf Coast see that as they wait to rebuild their lives. Americans who lose their jobs see that as they look to rebuild their careers. And our soldiers in Iraq see that as they try to rebuild a nation."<snip>

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1. Democrats Point to 'Poor Choices' in Policy

Sen. Reid: "This is Bush doublespeak. Whatever he said, think just the opposite."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/politics/01dems.html

Opposition Response
Democrats Point to 'Poor Choices' in Policy
By CARL HULSE
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 — Democrats responded with skepticism Tuesday to President Bush's policy agenda, saying he and his fellow Republicans had compiled a record of favoring corporate interests and the affluent when it came to the economy, health care and energy.

In the party's formal response to the president's State of the Union address, Timothy M. Kaine, the newly elected governor of Virginia, accused the administration of "poor choices and bad management" that have had dire consequences for ordinary Americans.<snip>

In their own comments before the address, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the top Democrats in Congress, said the White House and Congressional Republicans had granted special interests too great a role in shaping legislation, including the new Medicare prescription drug plan.

"Because the pharmaceutical industry was at the table when this bill was written," Ms. Pelosi said, "seniors are paying the price at the corner pharmacy."

She and Mr. Reid also said they had seen no sign in Mr. Bush's five years in office that he and Republican Congressional leaders were serious about easing the nation's reliance on foreign energy sources. They said energy legislation adopted by Congress last year was heavily influenced by the oil industry, which is earning record profits.<snip>