Dem ticket touts steadiness over flashiness
MIAMI — The newly formed Democratic ticket took the stage for the first time in Miami, showing off a partnership that prizes steadiness over flashiness.
As Hillary Clinton presented her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia to a roaring crowd of supporters, she noted that her choice stood in clear contrast to Republican nominee Donald Trump and pick for vice president, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
“Senator Tim Kaine is everything Donald Trump and Mike Pence are not,” Clinton said. “He is qualified to step into this job and lead on day one. And he is a progressive who likes to get things done!”
As if to prove to those wondering, Kaine put on display the textured biography, long résumé and demeanor that helped him become the last man standing in Clinton’s running mate search.
He presented himself as pubic servant whom people from a wide range of upbringings and ethnicities could find something to identify with.
And in essence he did one thing Clinton has struggled to do in this campaign: convey authenticity.
The two launched their political marriage here to a crowd of more than 5,000 at Florida International University, a campus that is two-thirds Hispanic.
The diverse audience waved American flags and Puerto Rican flags as they waited — in some cases for hours — for Clinton and Kaine to take the stage.
After months of deliberation, Clinton announced Friday night that she had chosen Kaine, passing over other candidates who offered more diversity for a self-described “boring” white man from Virginia. Speaking their language
But four seconds after opening his mouth, Kaine thrilled the crowd by speaking Spanish.
“Bienvenidos a todos en nuestro pais. Porque somos americanos todos,” Kaine said. “Welcome to everyone in our country, because we are all Americans.”
Kaine had long been a front-runner for the job. He was passed over by President Barack Obama for the vice-presidential job in 2008, but in the intervening years, Kaine beefed up his résumé, winning a Senate seat in a key swing state, serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to accrue foreign policy experience and establishing himself as a well-liked pragmatist.
All along, Clinton’s aides and allies said that her top priority was finding a part- ner who would not just help her govern, but who is also qualified and prepared to do the job from day one. ‘Fights for the people’
Kaine — a former governor, mayor and Democratic National Committee chairman — outstripped other contenders with a background that satisfied that qualification, she said.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that Tim is qualified to be vice president,” Clinton said.
“At every stage in his career, the people who know him best have voted to give him a promotion.
“That’s because he fights for the people he represents and he delivers real results,” she said.
Almost immediately, Trump began criticizing Clinton’s pick on Twitter, claiming that Kaine is “owned by the banks” and criticizing him for accepting gifts as governor of Virginia, a practice that was legal at the time in the state.
But other Republicans offered praise for the Democrat.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., declared on Twitter that he had nothing negative to say about Kaine.
“Trying to count the ways I hate Tim Kaine,” he wrote. “Drawing a blank. Congrats to a good man and a good friend.”
Indeed, Kaine’s relatively sterling reputation in Washington may be one of his biggest assets in a race that will feature two of the most disliked party nominees in history: Clinton and Trump. ‘Faith in action’
Clinton noted that the two share a lot of history. Both grew up in the Midwest with fathers who were small-business owners.
Both graduated from law school to practice law in public service careers. And Kaine, a Roman Catholic, and Clinton, a Methodist, both grew up with faith at the forefront of their lives, she said.
“As you get to know Senator Kaine, you will see that his lifelong commitment to social justice is a shining example of his faith in action,” Clinton said.
On policy, Kaine highlighted one of his core agreements with Clinton on an issue that she has made a centerpiece of her campaign: gun control.
Kaine served as governor during the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech, which he emotionally recalled as “the worst day of my life.”
“When the vast majority of Americans and a majority of (the National Rifle Association) members agree that we have to enact common sense gun safety measures, Hillary and I will not rest,” Kaine said.
“We will not rest.”