Clinton says her VP pick ‘everything Trump is not’
Virginia senator quick to take shot at GOP ticket
MIAMI — Hillary Clinton introduced running mate Sen. Tim Kaine Saturday as a cando progressive committed to social justice and equality — “everything Donald Trump and Mike Pence are not” — at a boisterous rally ahead of next week’s Democratic National Convention.
“He is qualified to step into this job and lead from Day 1. And he is a progressive who likes to get things done,” Clinton declared at Florida International University.
Kaine, a bilingual former Virginia governor, detailed his life in public service. “I like to fight for right,” he said. And, as Clinton smiled broadly at her choice for vice-president, Kaine greeted the largely Hispanic audience in Spanish.
“We’re going to be ‘companeros de alma,’ in this great ‘lucha’ ahead,” he said, or “soulmates in this great fight ahead.”
Trump, in a text to his own supporters, said President Barack Obama, Clinton and Kaine were “the ultimate insiders” and implored voters to not “let Obama have a 3rd term.”
At the splashy rally, Democrats sought to offer a contrast to Trump and Pence, whose first appearance together in a New York City hotel ballroom included a lengthy speech by the GOP businessman and much more limited remarks by Pence, the Indiana governor.
Clinton chose to introduce Kaine as her running mate in the battleground state of Florida, waving to the large crowd of cheering supporters as they bounded on stage with their hands raised in the traditional sign of unity. Clinton sought to present the partnership as one built in optimism, panning the Republican convention as a display of “fear,” “anger and resentment.”
She noted Kaine had taken a year off from Harvard Law School to do missionary work in Honduras and had worked as a civil rights attorney specializing in equal housing.
She also pointed to his work on gun control after the deadly Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, praising his efforts to curb gun violence before a nation still reeling from a series of shootings and violence against police.
“Behind that smile Tim also has a backbone of steel. Just ask the NRA,” Clinton said.
Choking up, Kaine described the Virginia Tech shooting as the “worst day … of my life.”
Kaine, 58, was long viewed as a likely choice because of his resume in government and his time as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He also had a particularly powerful backer in Obama, whom Kaine endorsed in 2007. Obama considered him for vice-president a year later.
Kaine showed a willingness to mix it up with the Republican ticket, assailing Trump as someone who had left “a trail of broken promises and wrecked lives wherever he goes.”