Kaine, like Clinton herself, is a quintessential “New Democrat”-meaning they are allies of Wall Street”.
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Arguing that holding the speech as planned would give an “appearance of USA favoritism in a foreign election”, Kaine complained that “there is no reason to schedule this speech before Israeli voters go to the polls on March 17 and choose their own leadership”. The other senators used to joke with Kaine, Pryor said, by calling him “His Excellency”, the proper way to address governors in Virginia.
Tim Kaine is indeed a popular face in Virginia politics.
It’s also the mark of a man, friends say, who is not wedded to a political life and would be happy doing many other things.
Liberal groups, which had pressured Clinton not to pick Kaine because of his support for fast-track authority for the White House to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, were dismayed by the choice.
Clinton also bypassed candidates who would have generated more excitement among liberal and Hispanic activists, including progressive favorite U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and two Hispanic members of Obama’s Cabinet, Julian Castro and Thomas Perez. Sherrod Brown, intensifying their criticism of Kaine late this week as his selection appeared imminent. Shortly after 8 p.m., the campaign blasted out a text message and accompanying announcement on Twitter that she had made her choice.
As Clinton prepared to make her VP pick Friday, Trump met with supporters at his convention hotel in Cleveland to run through a long list of thank-yous after the end of his four-day coronation as head of the Republican Party. He easily defeated former Republican governor and Sen. “Just the opposite of Trump”, Ramirez said. He promised to work “so hard” as the nominee and vowed his campaign was “not going to disappear”, even though he has no plans to campaign this weekend and no events on his schedule for next week.
Philadelphia is ready for the Democratic National Convention.
After 10 years working as a civil rights lawyer and lecturer at the University of Richmond’s law school, Kaine mounted a successful campaign for city council from Richmond’s Northside. Kaine was elected to the senate in 2012. During his political career, he’s demonstrated an ability to woo voters across party lines, winning his 2006 gubernatorial race with support in both Democratic and traditionally Republican strongholds.
His wife, Anne Holton, is the daughter of a former Virginia governor, a former state judge and, currently, the state’s Education Secretary. They have three children; their eldest son, Nat, is a Marine.
“I think he’s an excellent selection, a very thoughtful choice”, said Schwank, a Ruscombmanor Township Democrat.
According to officials, Miami will be pivotal ahead of the Democratic National Convention slated to begin from July 25 as Kaine, 58, a fluent Spanish speaker, will introduce Clinton to Latino voters, a critical slice of the electorate in her quest to defeat rival Donald Trump.
Clinton’s campaign declined to comment.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker quickly praised Kaine. Kaine was attending a fundraiser in Newport, Rhode Island, for the state’s Democratic senator, Jack Reed.
Instead of wealth or prestige, supporters and colleagues said the former missionary is a man motivated by deep convictions and his Roman Catholic faith.
But Kaine’s cautious, left-leaning political profile has been blurred at times by his ties to energy industry interests and his personal qualms over abortion.
What a Clinton/Kaine ticket makes clear, according to Jacobson, is that progressives now have a serious “fight on their hands, not only to avoid the election of an unapologetic fascist, but to ensure that the only person claiming the progressive mantle actually means what she says”.
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Kaine got some practice challenging Trump’s message when he campaigned with Clinton last week in northern Virginia, where he spoke briefly in Spanish and offered a strident assault on Trump’s White House credentials.
