Clinton goes with heart in choosing Kaine.
Democrat calls Virginia senator a progressive who gets things done
Hillary Clinton introduced new running mate Tim Kaine as a “progressive” who is “everything Donald Trump and Mike Pence are not,” while Kaine highlighted his working-class roots and took aim at Trump in their debut as the Democratic presidential ticket.
“He is qualified to step into this job and lead on Day One,” Clinton said of Kaine. She also described him in a way she’s previously characterized herself, as “a progressive who likes to get things done.”
“That’s just my kind of guy,” she added.
The most important criterion in her choice was Kaine’s fitness to immediately assume the presidency, Clinton said, in rejecting criticism from some progressives that he’s not a fighter for their causes.
“Behind that smile is a backbone of steel,” Clinton said in introducing Kaine to more than 5,000 supporters at Florida International University.
The former secretary of State described Kaine as someone who’s fought for stricter gun laws, education funding and veterans issues.
Breaking out into Spanish at several points during his speech, Kaine showed his eagerness to play the traditional vice presidential role as attack dog.
He said Trump, the GOP nominee, “leaves a trail of broken promises and wrecked lives wher-
ever he goes.”
He cited recent comments by Trump that raised questions about his commitment to defending NATO allies as well as controversial remarks the real estate mogul made last summer about Arizona Sen. John McCain’s time as a prisoner of war.
“And he wants to be commander in chief?” Kaine said, calling Clinton “the direct opposite of Donald Trump.” Kaine also gave the audience a lengthy autobiography, acknowledging that “for many of you, it may be the first time you’ve heard my name.”
Throughout his remarks, Kaine touted Clinton’s credentials as a potential commander in chief. “She doesn’t trash our allies; she respects them,” he said. “Hillary knows that we’re stronger together.”
After considering potential picks like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Clinton is calculating that Kaine, a Virginia senator and former governor who comes from a working-class background, will help her beat Trump by drawing in independent and moderate voters.
The big question is whether Kaine’s pick will also unnerve progressive Democrats who had been hoping for a more liberal candidate out of respect for Clinton’s fierce primary battle with Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Some progressives reacted critically to the pick, while Sanders has remained silent, a response that may be telling. The pick also comes as leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee show there were discussions among top party officials about how to attack the Vermont senator, a development sure to anger the Sanders followers Clinton is now counting on.
Kaine highlighted, among other things, the role of his Catholic faith, his work as a college student missionary in Honduras and his work as a civil rights lawyer representing people who’d been discriminated against based on race or disabilities. He also discussed his childhood, saying his father was a union-organized iron worker.
“It’s a good pick. It’s a safe pick,” said Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “Kaine doesn’t have many vulnerabilities or weaknesses. He won’t fire up the liberal base, but Hillary Clinton thinks Donald Trump will do that.”
While Kaine has a record of fighting for a number of causes important to liberal Democrats, like fair housing and gun control, he has also supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact with Pacific Rim nations that is a major flash point with the left and also opposed by Trump.
Trump immediately sought to highlight potential divisions. In a tweet Saturday, he contended that Sanders supporters are “furious” and that Kaine is “owned by the banks.”