Julie Stauch, a veteran of many Democratic campaigns and five inaugurals, shares her memories from working with Tim Kaine. -promoted by desmoinesdem

In 2005, after the Virginia statewide elections, I was hired as a consultant to work with the Governor’s Inaugural staff team to help put on a successful Inaugural and launch of the administration of then Governor-elect Tim Kaine. It was my fifth inaugural consulting job, the fourth governor’s inaugural. My role was to help the staff team, largely campaign employees who had a great understanding of the new governor-elect, the state, constituents, supporters, and the candidate’s family and friends, but no idea about how to put this together, as well as no idea about how to deal with the pace of decisions and the planning process. While what I actually did as a consultant varied with each state and the Inaugural staff team, the nature of the events varied only slightly based on the personality and leadership style of the governor-elect and local custom.

Within twenty-four hours of my arrival I was to meet with Tim Kaine, his wife Anne Holton, the head of his transition team, the head of his inaugural team, the press secretary and a few other key staff, to give an overview of the types of decisions needed for the Inaugural, the work priorities, and what they most needed to know from us.