Running mate choices intended to provide balance to both tickets
BY selecting Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine to be her running mate, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton provided a little balance — offering a solid, well-respected yet reliable progressive No. 2 to help make the ticket more palatable.
It’s essentially the same thing Republican nominee Donald Trump did in making Indiana Gov. Mike Pence his VP choice. Pence is everything Trump is not, and the same can be said of Kaine vis a vis Clinton.
Hillary has a trail of political baggage a mile long — starting from her days as first lady in Arkansas, following through to her time in the White House, and culminating in her stint as secretary of state in the Obama administration. It was in the latter job, of course, that she used a personal email server to conduct State Department business, some of it classified. This egregious decision drew strong criticism from the department’s own internal auditors and from the head of the FBI, who said Clinton was “extremely careless” on the job.
Her extensive history of playing by her own rules contributes to her high unfavorable ratings — nearly 56 percent in the latest Real Clear Politics polling average. Her choice of Kaine is designed in part to remedy that.
Kaine brings to the campaign a good record as governor (from 2006-2010) of a swing state, and as a U.S. senator since 2012. His experience as a member of the Senate armed services and foreign relations committees should serve the ticket well. So too should the fact he can speak Spanish, especially considering some of what Trump has said about illegal immigrants and his pledge to build a wall along the border with Mexico.
Kaine wasted no time putting his bilingual ability on display, going back and forth between English and Spanish during a campaign stop with Clinton on Saturday in Miami, Fla. He also acknowledged, “This might be the first time you’ve heard my name.”
That humility is a stark contrast to Clinton — just as Pence’s is to Trump.
Indeed, Pence brings to the GOP ticket a long record of conservative governance, first in the U.S. House and then as governor, coupled with a modest personality. He is the antithesis of Trump, whose ties to the GOP before this campaign were shaky at best, and whose personality is outsized, to say the least.
That was evident when the two men sat down for an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” on July 17, and Trump repeatedly talked over Pence. It also came through at their first appearance together as running mates, when Trump spoke at length, on stage by himself, before directing the conversation to Pence.
During his acceptance speech at last week’s GOP convention, Pence quipped that Trump is known for his personality and charisma, “so I guess he was just looking for some balance on the ticket.” There may be more truth to that statement than Pence intended.
Pence delivered an excellent speech that night, but unfortunately it got lost amid the hubbub that accompanied Ted Cruz’s nonendorsement the same night. This may prove to be a harbinger of the next three months — Pence standing tall and shining brightly, but getting overshadowed every step of the way. As with Kaine, he helps to balances the ticket, certainly, but only so much.