The New York Times' profile today of Tim Kaine has an ironic headline: "Charismatic Governor Rises to the Short List." In fact, Kaine's stock has fallen a bit in the last week, with the crisis in Georgia highlighting Kaine's lack of foreign-policy experience. Still, as the Times notes, there's still much Kaine can do as Obama's running mate:

While running mates typically complement the presidential candidate, Mr. Kaine, 50, more replicates Mr. Obama. He is an inspiring speaker, a Harvard-trained lawyer who spurned corporate work for civil rights. He eludes ideological labels -- a Roman Catholic, he opposes both the death penalty and abortion, yet has allowed several executions during his tenure as governor and says he does not think abortion should be criminalized. He describes himself as pragmatic, not partisan -- a bridge builder.

"He reinforces a basic message Barack Obama wants to send about a new, non-Washington era," said Robert D. Holsworth, the director of the Center for Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University. "He has a lot of personal appeal."

This is a little too flattering, but Kaine could pull off the post-partisanship theme well on the stump if given the chance. The most important factor of course is that Kaine's from Virginia, which, as Karl Rove writes today, is one of the four key battle ground states this year.