USA TODAY International Edition
Clinton, Trump chose similar veeps — for opposite reasons
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump don’t share much, but when it came down to picking a running mate, they made similar choices — albeit with opposite rationales.
Clinton’s choice of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate for the Democratic ticket in some ways was a parallel to Trump’s pick of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence for the Republican one: Highly respected, well- liked and low key ( OK, some say boring) politicians who have served both in statehouses as governor and in Washington as members of Congress. Kaine is 58; Pence is 57.
The similarities persist even at home: Each has three children, including a son in the Marines.
But Trump settled on Pence over two finalists with whom he had closer relationships, Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich, because he said it would help unite his divided party. A fiscal and social conservative, Pence reassures the right that Trump can be trusted.
On the other hand, Clinton settled on Kaine over more liberal options such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren even though he risks exacerbating the divisions in her party.
The progressives who had backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and his unexpectedly strong challenge to Clinton in the Democratic primaries had urged her to choose a running mate that would reassure the left on issues such as trade deals and Wall Street regulation. That could have been Sanders or Warren or Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown or Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, one of the finalists.
Some Democrats also lobbied for a running mate with more of a spark, someone who might strengthen her standing with Millennial voters who tell pollsters they are repelled by Trump but not yet attracted to Clinton. That could have been a younger choice, perhaps one who offered racial diversity, such as New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker or Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro.
Trump, for one, was egging on Democrats unhappy with Clinton’s final choice. “The Bernie Sanders supporters are furious with the choice of Tim Kaine, who represents the opposite of what Bernie stands for. Philly fight?” Trump tweeted. In another: “Bernie supporters are outraged, was their last choice. Bernie fought for nothing!”
Sanders took a more measured tone Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press. “He is more conservative than I am,” Sanders said of Kaine, acknowledging he would have preferred “to see somebody like an Elizabeth Warren” on the ticket. But he called Kaine, his Senate colleague, “a very, very smart guy” and “a very nice guy.”
The fact is Kaine always had the best odds.
For starters, he’s a white man, a demographic group that now fa- vors Trump. He’s a devout Catholic, a former missionary and a fluent Spanish speaker, a skill he put on display at their opening joint rally in Miami on Saturday. He has national- security credentials as a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees. And Kaine’s possible election as vice president wouldn’t turn his Senate seat over to a Republican; Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe would appoint his replacement.
In his choice, Trump went with his head and a political calculation about what he needed for November. Clinton felt free to go with her heart and what she wanted for January.