As my colleague Lynn Mitchell has noted, former Governor and DNC chairman Tim Kaine is now, officially, a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Jim Webb.  A lot has changed since Kaine was last on a ballot (the 2005 Virginia governor race). But judging from the video and email announcing his candidacy, Kaine intends to campaign like its 2005 all over again.

In his email, Kaine makes the parallel himself:  “Please watch my announcement video, made from the same steps where I launched that first campaign…”  For those who recall the early stages of the 2005 gubernatorial contest between then-Lt. Gov. Kaine and then-Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, those steps will be quite familiar.  They set a tone Kaine tried to maintain throughout the campaign – I’m just a regular guy looking to make Virginia a better place.