Jim, I’ve just read your New Man, New Ideas piece in this week’s Bacon’s Rebellion e-zine. You sound breathless and almost giddy at the potential of Governor-elect Kaine to integrate your long-advocated transportation solutions into state policy. Your picture even has the Tim Kaine eyebrow thing!
Wait a minute.
None of these new policy initiatives were debated during the campaign–there was no time, what with Hitler and all. They’ve barely been debated on these pages, except between Risse and Hyde. As you note, toward the end of the campaign, Kaine suddenly unveiled “growth curb” language and not much else. A lot of these ideas, when commuters learn about them, will not be greeted with instant enthusiasm. A lot of the ideas are very long-range and hold no real promise of relief anytime soon.
Let’s see how these regional meetings go before you get too carried away. Will these ideas be presented at the meetings or will the meetings just be for a long line of speakers to sound off with their pet ideas? Are advocates of smart growth policies prepared to speak and attempt to capture the media’s attention? I’d certainly like to see Governor-elect Kaine make an affirmative case for the things you hold dear, Jim, but I wonder if he and his staff have really thought this through–or had time to think it through.
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