Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, on CNN a moment ago, asked whether John McCain deserves credit for calling for a surge of troops when it was politically unpopular: “The notion that more troops would mean more order, I think, is not a particularly controversial one.”

Kaine must have been busy in Richmond at the time, because there was not a consensus that would work in Washington. Some folks were saying, “We can send 15,000 more troops; 20,000 more troops; 30,000 more troops. I don’t know any, uh, expert on the region or any military officer that I’ve spoken to privately that believes that that is gonna make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground.” Some folks like Barack Obama, for example.

He says McCain has never told Americans “what victory would look like.” Indeed, it’s hidden on McCain’s web site, written in secret codes like, “The best way to secure long-term peace and security is to establish a stable, prosperous, and democratic state in Iraq that poses no threat to its neighbors and contributes to the defeat of terrorists. When Iraqi forces can safeguard their own country, American troops can return home.”

Kaine then has to explain why it’s okay to explore for natural gas off the coast of Virginia, but Obama’s blanket opposition (at least as of this moment) to offshore oil drilling is also the right position. He keeps reiterating assessing the cost and benefits.

Wolf: “You’re open to offshore oil drilling?”

Kaine: “I’m open to the exploration.”

Then he goes to echo the standard Democratic complaint about why oil companies aren’t drilling in some of the currently available waters, hoping that no one asks whether there’s actually any oil under the ground in those waters.

I can’t imagine that was the blockbuster appearance the Obama campaign was hoping for.