Virginia’s governor is Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a Clinton ally. Kaine is on the shortlist of potential running mates for Hillary Clinton.
Advertisement
Hillary Clinton spoke to a crowd in Tampa, FL on Friday. She’s a meticulous thinker who nearly never leaps before looking.
UPDATED: This story was updated to reflect that Tim Kaine was Hillary Clinton’s choice for her running mate.
Critics say that he is a tiresome choice to be Mrs Clinton’s vice president – with Mr Kaine himself admitting in an interview with Meet The Press: “I’m boring”. The reason is simple: He checks lots and lots of the traditional boxes one looks for in a vice president.
Kilgore lost to Kaine in the state’s 2005 gubernatorial race. He has executive and legislative experience.
KCTV5 talked with Kaine’s family ahead of the official announcement and they say they’re thrilled at the thought of him becoming vice president.
“He has a business sense and global experience [and] speaks Spanish, which are both pluses”, he said. He had been vetted favorably by then-Sen.
And, most importantly, Kaine is a steady presence.
Kaine’s resume includes serving as the Mayor of Richmond and Chair of the Democratic National Committee.
The flip side of all of that is that Kaine is occasionally – okay, often – described as “boring”.
Kaine’s rise through the political world has been steady and, in some cases, with a hint of luck: He won his Senate seat four years ago when incumbent Jim Webb, a first-term senator, did not seek re-election. Trump pledged as president to restore a sense of public safety, strictly curb immigration and save the nation from Clinton’s record of “death, destruction, terrorism and weakness”. Far from being a negative, Kaine’s steadiness – call it boringness if you want – was a huge positive. With it come questions as to the party’s presumptive presidential nominee’s pick for a running mate.
Warren and Clinton do not enjoy a close personal relationship and Warren’s steadfast opposition to large Wall Street banks, while immensely popular with the liberal base, could prove a detriment to Clinton’s fundraising efforts in her adopted home state of NY. (That was good.) When John McCain named Sarah Palin in 2008, it undermined his key message against Barack Obama of experience vs naivete.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus condemned the pick, saying Clinton spent the past week pandering to Sanders and grassroots Democrats, and now “has chosen someone who holds positions that she’s spent the entire primary trying to get to the left of”. Political analysts believe if Clinton can win Virginia, she’ll easily defeat Trump in November, even if he takes Florida and Ohio.
His bipartisan roots, the Clinton campaign believes, could resonate with voters seeking an alternative to Trump. “But boring is the fastest-growing demographic in this country”. Her choice isn’t historic-as it would have been if Clinton had selected Warren or Booker.
Advertisement
Clinton also made a Twitter announcement in Spanish (which Kaine learned as a Christian missionary in Honduras) and quickly put out a video introducing the senator and former Virginia governor. Advisers to Clinton see Kaine as a stable force on the bottom of the ticket, foregoing the allure of a pick that could provide more star power in favor of one they are hoping will be void of drama.
