This file photo taken on July 14, 2016 shows US Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and US Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, waving during a campaign rally at Ernst Community Cultural Center in Annandale, Virginia.
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Kaine, a former Virginia governor who previously served as mayor of Richmond, has been on Clinton’s short list for the past few weeks alongside Elizabeth Warren, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and a handful of others.
“I’m thrilled to announce my running mate, Tim Kaine, a man who’s devoted his life to fighting for others”, Clinton tweeted.
Clinton also met with Massachusetts Sen. In recent months, his name faded from almost all conversations as Kaine, U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and U.S. Sen.
Clinton also bypassed candidates who would have generated more excitement among liberal and Hispanic activists, including progressive favorite U.S. Sen. This time, he joined the “Ready for Hillary” bandwagon before she even announced.
Clinton stressed that her search was influenced by the question of who would make a good president if required to step in, and said, “I am afflicted with the responsibility gene, and I know what it’s like being president”. The announcement puts one of the final pieces in place as Democrats prepare to gather in Philadelphia next week for the party’s convention.
Clinton, according to the official, enjoyed the rally with him and in particular, liked Kaine’s down-to-earth campaign style.
That session suggested that Clinton have removed Warren from consideration for the No. 2 spot. Clinton called Kaine by phone around 7:30 p.m. Friday to offer him job, and he accepted, according to a campaign aide.
He was also seen as a safe pick for vice presidential running mate – although that’s just because he wasn’t as notorious as Chris Christie or Newt Gingrich. All of this could help Clinton’s chances of winning Virginia in the general election. Kaine is the vice presidential frontrunner, and has been the frontrunner all year long. Straight out of Harvard Law, he clerked for a federal judge and married Anne Holton, a former judge and daughter of a previous Virginia governor. She said she’s bothered by Kaine’s association with the “military industrial complex” and his support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. They have three children. Her vice president, he said, “needs to be someone who, whenever they walk into a room, you are glad to see them and want to have them as part of any conversation”.
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Podesta said Trump is “temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be president” adding that the Republican nominee isn’t offering any “real solutions” but rather “more prejudice and paranoia”.
