Kaine Is A Safe, Yet Uninspiring, Choice As VP
As is her wont, Hillary Clinton made the safe choice in picking Tim Kaine from Virginia as her running mate. Kaine is probably slightly more liberal than the moderate Democrat impression that most people have of him, having taken on the tobacco lobby and the NRA in his stint as Governor of Virginia, and is a solid, establishment politician. His fluency in Spanish can only help the ticket and, if the Democratic ticket wins in November, the Virginia seat he holds will still remain in Democratic hands at least for the short term as Governor Terry McAuliffe will get to appoint a replacement who will serve until a special election sometime in 2017.
But, in some sense, all of Kaine’s strengths are his weakness. As an establishment figure he will not excite the base, especially Sanders’ voters and the millennials Hillary needs to come out and vote for her. His close ties to Wall Street will be exploited by Trump and will disappoint progressives as will his prior support for trade deals. And today’s accusations of accepting gifts from companies with business with the state when he was Governor of Virginia will play into Trump’s theme of a “rigged” system and make Kaine look like another business-as-usual type of politician. Apparently, he was a bit more passionate than advertised in the first joint appearance with Clinton in Miami and Clinton and Kaine are both going to need to be passionate, as a boring but detailed campaign will just not cut it this year. But he was selected as a steady, responsible guy who could step in and do the job if necessary, supposedly highlighting a contrast with the GOP ticket. And he is still popular in Virginia which could be a crucial swing state.
I guess my biggest complaint with the selection is that it is so safe. I truly feel that if Hillary had chosen a firebrand who could electrify the base and bring along the Sanders and millennial voters, Democrats would really have a chance to not only take over the Senate but make big gains, if not take control, in the House. I just don’t see Kaine expanding that playing field in really any serious way. That alone, is why his choice is such a disappointment.