"Over the past three months, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's stock on the national political scene has never been higher.

As a national co-chairman for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, Kaine (D) helped deliver Virginia for the Illinois senator in the Feb. 12 Potomac Primary, appeared on Sunday talk shows and hit the campaign trail in other states. Some pundits mention Kaine as a possible vice presidential candidate or a Cabinet official if Obama is elected president.

But at home, Kaine has been stung by major policy setbacks. The federal government has threatened to deny money for construction of Metrorail service to Dulles International Airport. The state Supreme Court threw out part of a landmark transportation plan Kaine supported last year. And the state government had to deal with a big budget shortfall.

Kaine has also struggled to win Republican friends in the General Assembly, which scaled back or eliminated many of his legislative priorities in the session that ended Thursday, including efforts to expand pre-kindergarten and access to health care.

Republicans beat up on Kaine when he left town to campaign for Obama six hours after the Supreme Court decision Feb. 29. Kaine, who had scheduled the campaign trip before the ruling, returned to the statehouse a day later, but by then many GOP legislators complained that Kaine is more interested in politics and promoting the Democratic Party than in mastering the legislative process.

"A governor has to lead, and we thought that weekend, 'Hey, here is your opportunity to lead. If you want a legacy, this is it,' " said Del. Terry G. Kilgore (R-Scott). "But he was too worried about Obama and Hillary."

Kaine, who has a reputation for unfailing optimism, tried to put the best spin on his legislative accomplishments when lawmakers adjourned Thursday. He took credit for reforms to the state's mental health system in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre, a repeal of the unpopular abusive-driving fees and increased funding for public schools and the state's foster care system.

"For a tight budget, a remarkable number of policy changes are underway," Kaine said.

Despite his successes, the General Assembly rejected many of Kaine's initiatives, including efforts to ban smoking in restaurants, require background checks on weapons purchases at gun shows and reduce property taxes through a homestead exemption.

Republicans, who control the House and hold 19 of 40 seats in the Senate, have said Kaine and his staff appear increasingly disconnected from the legislative process. Kaine is midway through a four-year term.

"They don't seem to be real good at making the deals," said House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem).

Griffith's characterization runs counter to Kaine's public profile. The former Richmond mayor, who continues to win accolades for overseeing a well-managed and relatively prosperous state, frequently touts that he is a new kind of Democrat, one willing to work for bipartisan solutions. That was a reason Kaine said he was attracted to Obama.

But Richmond has been engulfed in partisan politics this year, and some of Kaine's critics say he has made it worse.

Last year, Kaine raised more than $4 million to help Democrats retake control of the state Senate. That success bolstered his national reputation, giving him an opportunity to boast about the Democratic resurgence in the state.

But that same reputation might be weakening Kaine's influence with Republicans, whom he needs to get his agenda through the General Assembly.

C. Richard Cranwell, chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, said Kaine has put Virginia Republicans on the defensive, causing them to block much of his agenda to try to stymie his political reputation.

Cranwell noted that former governor Mark R. Warner (D) left office with record high approval ratings because the public saw him as being able to work well with Republicans.

"I think the problem Tim is having in reaching out across the aisle is directly correlated to the success Mark Warner had," said Cranwell, who served in the House from 1972 to 2002. "I think the Republicans in the House said never again will we be bipartisan with a governor and allow him to get a 72 percent approval rating."

GOP leaders admitted that they are hesitant to work with Kaine, who is expected to target some House Republicans for defeat next year. But they said Kaine's failures with the legislature go beyond a partisan divide.

Griffith said previous governors, including Warner, excelled at using the power that comes with the governor's office to barter with legislators or pressure them into supporting bills.

"He ought to be looking at how he can get something he wants," Griffith said. "But he keeps running towards that brick wall thinking at some time it's going to give."

G. Paul Nardo, top aide to House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford), said he's surprised Kaine's staff doesn't push harder to change minds in the General Assembly.

"They don't lobby," Nardo said. "They give us paper, but they don't lobby."

Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) said: "Every governor has a different style. Kaine is pretty darn knowledgeable. But does he get involved in every step of the legislative process? No, but that is what you have legislative leaders for."

Kaine let the General Assembly take the lead on several big issues this year, including a bill to impose new restrictions on the payday loan industry. He said this week that his relationship with Republicans is improving.

"Every year we work together, we know each other better," Kaine said. "My personal relationships, they get better every day."

But Republicans said they are frustrated because Kaine sometimes tells them one thing in private but quickly changes his position publicly. Some GOP leaders have grown skeptical of Kaine's authenticity.

"We've had nice conversations with the governor, and then 30 minutes later he is blasting us over the same issue," said Del. Clarke N. Hogan (R-Charlotte). "I hear a lot of rhetoric, but when it comes right down to getting a deal done, there is not much there there."

Kaine's allies countered that he has taken up the cause of Virginia's growing suburban and urban areas, especially Northern Virginia, where residents are becoming less in tune with GOP legislators' conservative principles.

"The state has tilted now, and Tim reflects that tilt," said Gerald E. Connolly (D), Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chairman. "It is the House of Delegates that hasn't caught up with the change.

Even though he has had to endure some legislative defeats, some Democrats argue that by standing on his principles, Kaine understands that he is positioning the Democratic Party for gains.

"Tim is a man of principle, but there is a certain shrewdness to his thrust" on issues such as an indoor smoking ban and efforts to push for transportation money, Connolly said.

But Kilgore said Kaine is facing political problems with the General Assembly because he's too focused on trying to impress national Democrats, causing him to misread Virginia's political environment.

"Tim Kaine is a nice guy," Kilgore said. "But he is governing a little bit left of what he ran on. He ran in 2005 toward the middle and is governing from the left, and it is just hard to do that in Virginia."" (Tim Craig, The Washington Post, March 16, 2008)