Tim Kaine has an Election Day tradition when his name is on the ballot.
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But Kaine could help Clinton in Virginia, a heavily contested swing state, and choosing Kaine will not cost Democrats a seat in the Senate, where Republicans now hold a majority, at 54 seats. Tim Kaine will be her running mate, with some praising his varied resume and others saying the choice did little to heal rifts with Bernie Sanders supporters.
Clinton’s choice of Kaine, 58, reflects her calculation that voters with doubts about both her and Republican nominee Donald Trump will respond to a doubling-down of her pitch for sober pragmatism, instead of a political wild card.
Critics of the Asia free-trade deal, including Trump and Clinton’s Democratic primary rival Bernie Sanders, say it would be unfair to USA workers and kill jobs. She called Kaine to tell him about 40 minutes before the announcement, and called President Barack Obama shortly after Kaine.
While Kaine is not a minority, supporters say it’s a plus that he speaks Spanish – a language he learned during a mission trip to Honduras while in law school.
Kaine began his political career on the Richmond, Va., City Council in 1994 and was later elected by the council to be the city’s mayor.
Kaine again endorsed early in this presidential race, this time for Clinton even before she had taken steps toward a second run.
“To select somebody like (Kaine) is not a sign of good leadership potential in a president”, Sinyangwe said.
His wife, Anne Holton, is the daughter of a former Virginia governor, a former state judge and, currently, the state’s Education Secretary. In an interview with CNN, Connolly said he vividly remembers Kaine swiftly assuming the role of “healer-in-chief” in the aftermath of the tragedy. But he has maintained support for Roe vs. Wade and as a senator has earned ideal vote ratings from leading abortion-rights groups. Randal Kirk, the chairman and largest shareholder of biotech firm Intrexon, has given Kaine $785,000, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project.
Kaine’s tenure as governor (Virginia is the last state that still limits its governors to a single four-year term) was marked by the deadly shooting at Virginia Tech in April 2007. “To a degree, the running mates are just along for the ride”. “Unfortunately, since Tim Kaine voted to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Republicans now have a new opening to attack Democrats on this economic populist issue”, said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
“Delegates are intensely discussing and considering options”, said Norman Solomon, a San Francisco delegate who called Kaine’s selection “unacceptable”. “You could tell it was a matter of deep principle for him. I think that kind of principled conviction and determination is a great quality to have in a vice president”.
The now-defunct Project Exile that Kaine backed was so unusual it was championed by Republicans and Democrats alike and by both the top US gun lobby group and gun-control advocates. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to craft an Authorization for Use of Military Force to define the fight against ISIS. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the Foreign Relations Committee chairman and co-sponsor of the legislation. And the previous week, he and his Senate colleagues had participated in a 14-hour filibuster calling for gun control reform, led by Connecticut Sen.
“He is a problem-solver who is more interested in getting things done than ideological purity or purely partisan point-scoring”, Sen. But he’s a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood and legal abortion, and followed through on a campaign promise to continue executions as Virginia governor.
Brown would have brought two key benefits to the Democratic ticket.
“He has to be among the senators least affected by his own position”, Schiff said. “Not that I would make much money playing a harmonica”.
Before Kaine was even chosen, though, progressives and former backers of Sanders’ candidacy signaled their dissatisfaction. Democracy for America, a group that endorsed Kaine, cast the changes sought by Kaine and other senators as a “lobbyist-driven effort to help banks dodge consumer protection standards and regulations created to prevent banks from destroying our economy”. Some liberals have been slow to warm to Clinton after her bruising primary with Vermont Sen.
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To defeat Trump in the November 8 presidential election, Clinton needs high turnout among blacks and other minority voters to offset Trump’s popularity among white voters.
