National Republican chairman says victories in Va., N.J., mean party is on the move again; Democratic leader and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine says his party has a “higher platform” from which to rebuild.

According to records released by his office, Gov. Tim Kaine was out of state for all or part of 12 days in September. His peregrinations included Texas, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont—and, of course, D.C. A spokesman says the absenteeism is owing to “a combination of state work, work in his role as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and personal time.“

Virginia will use nearly $50 million in federal stimulus funds to reward energy-conserving consumers, businesses and localities with rebates on purchases of efficient appliances and alternative fuel choices. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine yesterday announced allocation of the funding in the following areas:

• $15 million for the Virginia Energy Efficiency Rebate Program, which will provide rebates of up to 20 percent on purchases of efficient products and equipment purchased after June 25.

Far be it from skeptics of the federal government’s massive stimulus bill to fault the commonwealth of Virginia for not cutting in line to grab a slice of the pork. That Virginia has “fallen far behind other states in putting to work” stimulus money for road construction, as Minnesota Rep. James Oberstar noted recently, is not the end of the world.

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has issued an executive order designed to help preserve evidence gathered from sexual-assault victims who initially are reluctant to proceed with criminal charges against their attackers. Executive Order 92 directs the state’s Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services to store Physical Evidence Recovery Kits gathered from health-care providers.

The last full week of September ended with the campaigns of both of Virginia’s candidates for governor claiming victory. Both had reasons to be happy. Three polls released during the past week show that Democrat R. Creigh Deeds has closed the gap with Republican Bob McDonnell to within 2 to 5 percentage points. “It’s a reflection of the fact that people are waking up to the race and responding very well to Creigh’s message and show a healthy amount of skepticism of Bob’s message and his record,“ Deeds senior adviser Mo Elleithee said a conference call with reporters.

Although the economy seems to be slowly mending, the worst recession since the Great Depression is still producing aftershocks. Gov. Tim Kaine detailed the effects of those aftershocks when he laid out the particulars of the latest round of budget cuts. The layoff ax will lay low nearly 600 employees. The effect falls particularly hard on Lawrenceville and Botetourt, two small communities where correctional institutions will close. State universities will take hits, as will the state’s health department.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is an exceptionally smart individual, and an exceptionally articulate man as well. As a lawyer, he is trained to state a case. As a political leader, he knows the intricacies of public policy. So it is telling that even he can’t make a decent argument on behalf of preserving the state’s monopoly on hard liquor sales.

Virginia Republicans have been having a grand ol’ time poking fun at Gov. Tim Kaine’s peregrinations. The other day the party sent out a blistering press release: “Barely 24 hours after releasing the dismal report that disclosed that he had missed budget projections in Virginia by another $1.5 billion, Kaine today participated in a town hall meeting held by President Obama—by telephone from New Jersey, where he was also campaigning for struggling incumbent Governor Jon Corzine.“

At a recent meeting of the poverty-reduction task force created by Gov. Tim Kaine, an advocate for homeless veterans suggested that the principal problem facing the poor in Virginia is that their fellow citizens have hearts of stone. “People don’t care,“ the advocate said. “That’s the biggest problem we have here in Virginia.“ Like any other sweeping generalization—“people don’t read”; “people don’t exercise”—the first statement is true of some individuals but not of others, and certainly not true of the commonwealth in the aggregate. From the United Way and the Central Virginia Food Bank to Sergeant Santa and Hunters for the Hungry, the Old Dominion boasts a profusion of charitable organizations.

Virginia Republicans will appeal to the court of public opinion instead of a court of law to fight over access to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s out-of-town travel records as Democratic National Committee chairman. “To continue our pursuit of the documents in question would leave us with the only option of taking the issue to litigation,“ state GOP Chairman Pat Mullins said in a statement released yesterday, responding to a letter sent by Kaine’s office late last week denying his request for the records.

The state’s revenue numbers from May are in, and things are worse than officials thought they would be. Based on the month’s revenues—which fell 15.6 percent compared with the same month last year—Virginia’s forecast budget gap widened another $75 million, for a total of $300 million for fiscal year 2009, which ends June 30. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine tempered the tepid financials by saying that the state will bridge the gap with the cost-cutting measures already in place—and the use of about $109 million in federal stimulus funding and $49 million in unallocated budget surplus from the two-year, $77 billion spending plan for fiscal 2009-2010.

Virginia and The Nature Conservancy have purchased 4,188 acres of land within the wild Dragon Run watershed from the Hancock Timber Resource Group, according to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. The purchase brings the total land conservation under Kaine to 335,000 acres. His goal is to preserve 400,000 acres during his term. “The purchase of this property will add significantly to our protected state forest land,“ Kaine said. “It will also ensure that this ecologically important land will never be developed and will be enjoyed by Virginians for generations.“

National Center for Higher Education Management Systems Virginia’s population ranks eighth in the United States for percentage of residents with college degrees. But the U.S. lags behind nearly every developed nation in the percentage of degrees held by its younger generation. The sobering news was delivered yesterday during a meeting at the state Capitol in Richmond of the Council on Virginia’s Future.

Recent History Terry McAuliffe—Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former head of the Democratic National Committee, and former director of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign—says Republicans in the House of Delegates are not bipartisan enough. McAuliffe castigates them for thwarting Gov. Tim Kaine’s demand for higher road taxes and bigger unemployment benefits. “I’ve got to have a House of Delegates that agrees with me on these big issues,“ he says. But House Republicans “are impossible to deal with.“ Really?