Hillary Clinton will introduce her running mate Friday, seeking to snatch attention from newly crowned Republican nominee Donald Trump just hours after he closed out his convention with a fiery and foreboding turn at the podium. Tim Kaine has emerged as the leading contender to join the Democratic ticket as Hillary Clinton’s running mate, according to two Democrats, who both cautioned that Clinton has not made a final decision and could yet change directions.
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Choosing Kaine would be “greeted by many as confirmation that she intends to run away from, if not betray, the progressive base of the party”, said Benjamin Jealous, a prominent Sanders supporter and former president of the NAACP.
Former President Bill Clinton reportedly endorsed Kaine as the vice presidential candidate and has stressed the importance of winning his home state of Virginia, as no candidate since 2000 has won the White House without it. Kaine is a centrist former governor of a crucial battleground state and served as mayor of Richmond before his election to the Senate, where he’s active on foreign relations and military affairs.
That’s a message we will hear next week at the start of the Democratic National Convention.
“Sen. Kaine is good at hiding behind his Catholic background – but no one should be fooled”, Tobias said.
Edwards also thinks Kaine brings a lot of benefit to Clinton’s campaign.
“I do what I do for spiritual reasons”, Kaine, who declined an interview with The Associated Press, said on C-SPAN last month. As his bio points out very early: “He is one of 20 people in American history to have served as a Mayor, Governor and United States Senator”. “I am confident that he will be an outstanding vice president”, she added.McGinty said Clinton and Kaine provide a “positive vision for the future”, while Republicans Donald Trump and Mike Pence “continue to push divisive polices that hurt middle-class families and weaken our national security”.
Not too long before stepping aside as Virginia’s governor in 2010 (governors in Virginia are term-limited), Kaine ordered a review of minority students’ participation in gifted and talented programs.
“After spending last week pandering to grassroots Democrats with Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton has chosen someone who holds positions that she’s spent the entire primary trying to get to the left of”, he said.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton named U.S. Sen.
According to the Clinton campaign official, their vetting process first began back in April with more than two dozen potential running mates.
Between this and Clinton’s support for harsh crime reduction strategies in the 1990s, they could create issues for people concerned about their ability to tackle criminal justice reform and jail overcrowding.
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.
“Is [Kaine] the most electrifying person, absolutely not”, said Elleithee.
Known as a pragmatic governor and senator, Kaine could help Clinton appeal to independent voters and moderate Republicans displeased with Trump. Cory Booker and Massachusetts Sen.
“Do you want a “you’re fired” president or a “you’re hired” president?”
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Here’s a video from ABC News, that wishes to make sure you know Kaine speaks Spanish. No matter, Trump said Friday, he didn’t want that support anyway.
