Can he serve two masters?

Even Virginians with short memories may dimly recall Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s promise in January that his chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee wouldn’t interfere with his day job.

Although the governor said at the time of his appointment that he’d limit most of his DNC fundraising and policy-making activities to weekends and evenings, it turns out that he has been working a day and half on average each workweek for the Democrats, not the Commonwealth of Virginia.

That’s what the governor told a Washington Post reporter, in explaining that he spends about a day a week traveling as the party’s national chairman, plus a half-day in Washington at DNC headquarters. The Post reported that he’s been to Missouri, Georgia, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota and even nearby North Carolina. On the horizon this fall election season: campaigning for Demo-crats in big-city races, as well as New Jersey and the Old Dominion.

It’s fortunate for Mr. Kaine he’s not an hourly employee; otherwise, this sideline job might put a dent in his bank account, for two reasons. One: He’s not compensated for this party post. Also, based on a 40-hour workweek, 28 hours a week constitutes part-time employment, which would mean a pay cut and loss of most benefits, at least in the private sector.

However, the people who are paying him to serve as governor — the taxpayers, his employers — ought to be concerned about a full-time employee who’s working part-time in the final year of his employment, plus a day and a half for some political party on the side.

That’s especially true since the governor has repeatedly refused Freedom of Information requests about his schedule and out-of-state travel. Oh, we’re told, that’s all part of the governor’s “working papers.” It’s a secret. It is not the people’s business where the governor goes or what he does for a political party in his “off” hours, right?

Uh, hold that thought: It turns out that Mr. Kaine also contends he is still governing while he is jetting around for the Democratic Party. He told the Post that he’s even packing a BlackBerry now to stay in touch with the governor’s office while he’s out raising money for the Democrats.

So, though the DNC gets the governor for free while we pay him, there’s the indelicate question of who should pay for the time of the security detail that accompanies Mr. Kaine wherever he goes. It develops that the DNC has agreed to reimburse the state for security detail coverage during the governor’s travels. The tab for security detail travel and coverage a day each week over a half-year is about $7,500, according to the governor. If you factor in air fares and meals plus bodyguard pay for, say, a 12-hour period every week, the Dem-ocrats are not paying that much extra to gain the governor’s services.

But how do we, the employers, know if the Democrats are paying us back in full for services rendered? If the state is billing the DNC for this security details’ time and travel expenses, is that invoice, and the documentation upon which it’s based, secret also?

We can hear the governor now: “Sorry, these are ‘working papers’.”

Working for whom??