Kaine: Divided Congress makes deal-making a must

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen.-elect Tim Kaine of Virginia says he believes Democrats and Republicans in Congress will come together to avoid the “fiscal cliff” threatening the country at year’s end.

Kaine, the former governor of Virginia who defeated Republican George Allen, tells NBC’s “Today” show that voters sent a message to Washington demanding “cooperative government.” But he also says the election results show that the public doesn’t want “all the levers in one party’s hands” on Capitol Hill.

Kaine credits the rapid growth of the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., for helping President Barack Obama carry the state over Republican Mitt Romney. He says the state “has moved from reliable red to just completely battleground” and that the results show that Obama’s victory in Virginia four years ago was not a “fluke.”