The Hill News

President Obama gave his strong backing to Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tim Kaine's likely run for Senate in Virginia.

Obama, during fundraisers for the DNC on Tuesday evening in Manhattan, said that while he wasn't sure whether Kaine would run for Senate, his DNC chairman would make an excellent senator from Virginia.

"There has been some speculation about our DNC chair plunging back into the hurly-burly of electoral politics," Obama said, according to a transcript of the event. "I don’t know if these rumors are true, but what I do know is that I cannot imagine somebody who has been a better partner to me and a better friend to me than our DNC chair, Tim Kaine."

DNC officials have acknowledged that Kaine is "increasingly likely" to jump into the race. Kaine was a former, popular governor of Virginia and could face former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), who's looking to reclaim his seat, in a top-tier matchup for the general election.

"Since he happened to be a really great governor for the commonwealth of Virginia, I suspect that, should he choose to do so, he would also be an outstanding senator from the commonwealth of Virginia," Obama said. "But whatever decisions he makes, I just want everybody here to know that he has done an outstanding job for me and an outstanding job for the country. And so I could not be prouder of him."

Of course, the president's words might not do Kaine any favors. Republicans' playbook against Kaine so far has been to paint him as Obama's biggest cheerleader.