U.S. Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia formally accepted the Democratic vice presidential nomination at the 2016 Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.
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He started off his speech by briefly walking through his resume with few anecdotes to sell his credentials and then launched into an attack on Trump, using digs at the billionaire businessman to highlight the positive traits of his running mate, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Obama entered the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia to thunderous applause – and a 51 percent job approval rating, the exact same rating outgoing President Ronald Reagan had at this point in July 1988, according to Gallup’s Job Approval Center.
“And Donald Trump is a one man wrecking crew when it comes to the alliances we have with other nations”, Kaine said.
While Kaine tried to reinforce his progressive bona fides during his speech, he made no mention of his recent shift on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement he had strongly supported but that is opposed by many on the left.
Still, progressives are not thrilled with Clinton’s choice in picking Kaine.
Samila Amany, a California delegates for Sanders, said Kaine is a centrist and she wasn’t overly impressed with his speech. And Kaine’s praise will ring false to anyone who remembers the Russian reset.
More seriously, Kaine said the presidential race is an “existential choice for the country” over questions like bringing back torture and “punishing people due to their religion”.
“I want to tell you why I trust Hillary Clinton, ” he said.
Clinton said she chose him because of the breadth of his government experience, their shared political views and principles, his unquestioned loyalty and his reputation for bipartisanship that may help the ticket reach out to more independents in key battleground states, including Virginia. Kaine added. “Donald Trump’s whole career says you better not”.
Kaine, meanwhile, was enthusiastically received Wednesday night by the Virginia delegation, which broke out into cheers of “Kaine” and waved “Stronger Together” signs in Spanish and English when the senator took the stage.
We asked Zandi what he would tell people who question whether his report on Trump is neutral, given his sizeable donation to Clinton and past connections with Democrats.
“‘Believe me?’ Here’s the thing”.
Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential candidate, U.S. Sen.
“I’ve got a lot of great memories and some I’m not looking forward to repeating”, Kaine said.
Biden also zeroed in on GOP nominee Donald Trump. Trump has since said he was being sarcastic when he made the remarks about Russian Federation. Tim Kaine of Virginia emphasized that his “faith became something vital” during his studies at a Jesuit high school.
The hope, of course, is that Kaine will be able to win over potential Trump voters, specifically white, low-income males in places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and his home state of Virginia-all battlegrounds Democrats carried in 2008 and 2012, but which have the potential to swing red again this time around.
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“We better elect the candidate who’s proven she can be trusted with the job, ” he said.
