Clinton is expected to announce her running mate through a text message or Twitter, possibly as early as Friday when she has two afternoon events scheduled in Florida.
Advertisement
Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia emerged as a leading contender after a methodical search, several Democrats close to the campaign say, receiving the stamp of approval from President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton.
The pair are scheduled to appear together at a rally in Miami on Saturday and then continue up to Philadelphia for the start of the Democratic Convention on Monday.
Clinton finalized her ticket a day after Republicans wrapped up their national convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
Kaine declared his candidacy for governor of Virginia in 2005 in a bid to replace Mark Warner (who was constitutionally precluded from serving another term).
“He’s the same person whether the cameras are on or off”, Clinton said in the release.
“Ultimately this is a ticket that represents one thing: four more years like the last eight, just with more corruption and scandal”, Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus said in a statement. Like Clinton, Kaine prefers the work of governing over the showmanship of campaigning. Kaine prevailed in the Democratic primary and faced former Senator and Virginia Governor George Allen in the general election.
While it might have been politically riskier – and we don’t know what the vetting uncovered on others reportedly on her short list – Clinton could have been bolder. “He’s a very I think comfortable choice”, he said. She said she’s bothered by Kaine’s association with the “military industrial complex” and his support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.
Kaine beat out a host of other Democrats who had been on Clinton’s shortlist including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and U.S. Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Elizabeth Warren of MA.
Democratic Presidental candidate Hillary Clinton and Sen.
Kaine is popular in the Senate, speaks fluent Spanish and was raised in the Midwest by an ironworker father, all of which give a Clinton-Kaine ticket a wider appeal in a general election.
Indeed, Kaine comes with no shortage of political experience.
Kaine, 58, is a Spanish speaker who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1983.
However, Kaine may not be the kind of attack dog Clinton had wanted to combat Trump.
Kaine represents a crucial swing state that Clinton will need to win in November.
Advertisement
Kaine was in 2008 short-listed as Obama’s running mate but he has not been above criticizing the Obama administration’s foreign policy strategy, and at an October 29, breakfast with reporters he called it “reactive”. I hope they will strongly embrace the issues that matter most to voters, namely, more money in their pockets at the end of a long week, more economic security, and more control over their own political and civic lives.
