Democrat Hillary Clinton’s pick of Tim Kaine as her vice presidential running mate could hamper her efforts to reach out to African-American voters because of Kaine’s past embrace of crime-fighting strategies that have driven up the us prison population and are unpopular in the black community.
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Some would consider him the antithesis to Republican nominee Donald Trump, due to his down-to-earth persona, self-deprecating humor and habit of breaking out a harmonica at campaign stops.
Although many were under the impression that Clinton was leaning towards Senator Elizabeth Warren as a running mate, PEOPLE has learned that Clinton had multiple follow up meetings with Kaine – including one where his wife joined the Clintons and their daughter Chelsea and her husband for dinner – and enjoyed his humble persona at her recent campaign appearance in Virginia, which she alluded to in her Instagram announcement. He has been active in the Senate on foreign relations and military affairs and built a reputation for working across the aisle as Virginia’s governor and mayor of Richmond.
“In a time when she is trying to cater to Sanders supporters, it was more catering to conservative voters and she’s not going to get any wave from it”, said Morelli, who said she would have preferred New Jersey Sen.
“I love that about him”, she said.
Also, having never lost a race for elected office in Virginia, he might prove to be the deciding factor in turning the key swing-state blue.
Delegates were heading to Philadelphia for the convention starting Monday, with those who support Sanders indicating uncertainty about embracing a Clinton ticket. You can imagine Kaine snow-blowing your driveway or fixing part of your fence just to be helpful.
Also reportedly in the VP mix are Tom Vilsack, agriculture secretary; Thomas E. Perez, secretary of labor; and James G. Stravidis, a retired four-star Navy admiral.
Tim Kaine isn’t that exciting.
Clinton will formally announce Kaine at a rally on Saturday in Miami. She said she’s bothered by Kaine’s association with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a global trade pact that Sanders and Clinton oppose.
In 2012, Kaine defeated George Allen, a Republican, to take the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Jim Webb. Kaine campaigned with Clinton last week in northern Virginia, where he spoke briefly in Spanish and argued that Trump was unqualified, untested and untrustworthy.
At a White House news conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Obama said crime rates, especially those for violent crime, are lower than at any time in the past 30 years. His wife, Anne Holton, now serves as Virginia’s secretary of education and is the daughter of former Virginia Gov. A. Linwood Holton Jr., a Republican. Mrs. Clinton sought to cast herself as a progressive, but also as the “reasonable” choice running against stereotypical liberal naiveté and idealism.
A fluent Spanish speaker, Kaine could help promote Clinton’s platform to Hispanic voters and broaden her already sizeable lead over Trump.
After Hillary Clinton reportedly took a long look at him as a possible running mate, Sen. “We’re pleased that since then, his votes and public statements have been consistently in favor of trusting women to make our own decisions”.
This is real-Donald Trump just accepted the @GOP nomination.
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“He reminds me a little bit of Biden in that he has good relationships”, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, who has worked with Kaine.
