I’m not a fan of Tim Kaine, but I think with Democratic control of the White House, the importance of the DNC chairmanship is significantly reduced. Kaine won’t be our party’s head — he’ll mostly be focused on helping Barack Obama get re-elected in 2012. With that in mind, I want to turn to more relevant questions regarding what a Kaine DNC will look like.

1. Who will be the Executive Director of the DNC? This person will have a far greater impact on day to day operations of the DNC than Kaine.
2. Will Kaine and the new E.D. continue the 50 State Strategy? Will they expand it or will they shrink it?
3. Will Kaine and the new E.D. keep current staff at the DNC? Howard Dean put together a phenomenal staff across the country. These are top Democratic operatives that know how to win unlike few other cohorts of operatives in our party. It would be a shame to lose this institutional knowledge.

I don’t have a sense of who the new Executive Director should be, but I would like it to be someone who supports the 50 State Strategy and has a deep understanding of how the Obama campaign won nationwide.

Update:

Marc Ambinder:

As has been previously reported, Jennifer O’Malley-Dillon will be executive director of the DNC.  O’Malley-Dillon is seen by the team as a manager with an organizational background that appeals to Obama.  She is large measure responsible for Sen. John Edwards’s solid caucus performances in 2004 and 2008.  She was recruited by Steve Hilderband to join Obama’s campaign as battleground states director and spent the general election overseeing state field budgets and figuring out where to send the principals.

The DNC will retain traditional responsibilities, like planning the convention and political research. But it will significantly expand its campaign organizing capacity and probably its staff; think of it as current DNC chairman Howard Dean’s 50 state strategy on steroids. [Emphasis added]

That sounds pretty good to me.