Thank heavens HRC chose Tim Kaine

[WillyBrandt]

I warmed up to Kaine quickly but initially I was meh. I was hoping Warren.

But it is nice to have that extra cushion in Virginia -- very wise. I'm in the worrywart caucus here on DU and having VA truly be a lock is nice.

And to have a Spanish speaker who we can deploy, and who knows how to do his job as VP versus freelancing and making noise. . . good to have in the bag.

And not to mention that he's perfectly qualified for the Presidency. An decent dude who isn't a push over

[monmouth4]

1. He's really growing on me too. Such a gentleman, a hard worker, a great partner for HRC.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Agree on all points...

I was a bit 'meh' about Tim myself, but I also learned to like him almost from the start.

Was not liking pulling a good Dem senator off the floor, but all-in-all, he's been an excellent pick for VP.

[a kennedy]

3. I love Tim Kaine.......he'll be the BEST VP ever.

[yardwork]

4. Kaine was a wise choice. It's been a smart campaign.

[WillyBrandt]

7. I'm impressed it was made against the wishes of Democratic partisans

Including myself

It showed the sign of people who sat down and thought rationally about a difficult choice

[Thinkingabout]

5. He will serve us very well.

[blue-wave]

6. Saw Him Speak

when he was DNC Chair, he was very impressive in person. I'm glad to see him on the ticket standing next to Hillary.

[VOX]

8. Same here...I wasn't sold at first, but he's an excellent choice...

He's an honest, decent guy who'll work hard and is very far from being a pushover. I'd want him in my corner any day.

[autorank]

9. Very decent guy

I was a precinct captain in Kaine's 2005 race for governor. He won 65% to 32% in the states largest precinct (or at least that's how I tell the story .

He's a very decent guy. Being a Democrat in Virginia is a challenge but he ran a very fair campaign and governed well.

We'll find out where he's really at in the next 4 years and be very pleased, I strongly suspect.

Also, he's more than capable of handling any rough stuff that the Republicans in Congress try to hand out. He's from the faction that toppled the Byrd machine in Virginia.

[blue-wave]

17. LOL! Congrats On That Huge Win!!

I pound pavement too, every election. My aching feet are testament to that. But the reward is when you get the results!

[Auntie Bush]

20. You deserve a lot of thanks blue-wave. It's because of all the people like you

that give us a winning hand.

[ProudDMVer202301703]

33. Yup

Far from a precinct captain, on the grunt side if things, campaigned for him through almost all of 2005 for a partnered AFL-CIO organization. Throughout Northern Virginia. Was proud to campaign for him then and I'm proud to campaign for him now. Told people from the moment he was selected that he's a legitimate good person in a world that desperately needs more legitimate good people at the top and to just give him a chance. I KNEW folks would warm up to him if they gave him a shot. And sure enough... Discussions like this thread make me happy.

[autorank]

40. Good work

I was a grunt too. The committee gave me that job when I volunteered because they thought they'd lose the precinct for sure. 'Do we have a deal for you!' It worked out. Kaine won and I got a couple of tickets to the Williamsburg inauguration. That was pretty amazing. Keep up the great work.

[Fahrenthold451]

10. I was just thinking the same

Helps GOTV in VA and helps the Latinos in FL. And, like me, he has terrific eyebrows.

[ham_actor]

11. Yes a good choice

Though I would have preferred Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a respected progressive who endorsed Clinton early and is very popular in Ohio with all it's electoral votes.

[radius777]

14. OH has a Repub Governor (Kasich)

who would've appointed a Repub in Brown's seat.

OH being a swing state is not easy (for either party) to win/hold a senate seat, and Brown is popular, would be crazy to ever let that seat go, which is why Brown was never really in top consideration for VP choice even though he would've been a good pick.

[ham_actor]

32. Yes

That was the drawback with choosing Brown though I think he might have made a big difference in Ohio.

[radius777]

12. Choosing Kaine was the obvious (and imo only) correct choice because

it immediately took VA off the map, a swing state that Obama only won by 3.88% in 2012, and helps with neighboring NC, as well as other swing states, that tend to value the type of scandal-free, moderate, qualified, family guy that Kaine is. He's also smart/tough (former courtroom litigator), bi-lingual, Catholic with a record of fighting for social justice.

Kaine isn't a flashy pick, but many if-not most times those types of picks backfire, and distract from the message the top of the ticket is trying to get across.

[BluegrassDem]

13. Very important he is locking down VA for us so HRC can spend time elsewhere

If he wasn't on the ticket, I think VA would be up there with FL and NC in terms of tight polling.

[StevieM]

15. I was very critical when he was first picked and I was even mad at Barack Obama and Bill Clinton

for pushing so hard for him.

But I have warmed to him. He has been good for the ticket and he will be a good VP.

[Lucinda]

16. He and his wife are both kind, compassionate, public servants, and he can kick butt, as we saw

in the debate. He's a great choice.

[pnwmom]

18. Yes! He was a terrific choice, not the boring white guy many misjudged him to be.

And it isn't a bad thing that he helps with Virginia!

[GulfCoast66]

19. As a liberal white male southerner I love him

Last edited Thu Nov 3, 2016, 09:51 PM - Edit history (1)

He exemplifies ideal that C. Vann Woodward postulated about in his epic 'The Burden of Southern History' that the south would lead the nation in racial reconciliation due to the fact that black and white southerners agreed on so many things...Religion, grace, good food, taking care of neighbors, etc. Ole C. Vann was just too much of an idealist. He missed one big point that LBJ knew to his core. That racism at it's core was all about economics and the upper class whites would continue still stir up the poor whites to achieve their goals no matter how much you appeal to their better nature.

But Kaine shows us a better side of ourselves. Loves family, very religious, supports individual rights.

And perhaps ole C. Vann was not totally wrong. When I find myself in the midst of southern blacks, once we get the measure of each other we get along like kin. We eat the same way, pray the same way(if at all), eat the same way, value family, eat the same way, take pride in our states and place, eat the same way, love football, eat the same way, talk the same way. We are just neighbors. I grew up in the south, raised by good parents in integrated schools. It astounds me how people who grew up going to school with and being surrounded by black folks can be racist. Hell, we are all the same! Some poor, some rich, some religious and we all talk funny!

I know things look bleak now but I remain an optimist. And I recently reread the Burden of Southern History and maybe C. Vann was just 70 year ahead of his time.

If you are southern and do not mind a really boring read, I recommend it.

Sorry for rambling on, but the historic nature of this election has me thinking back about all my reading over the past 30 years.

[Barack_America]

29. +1

I really enjoyed your post.

[mcar]

21. He's my age

and was educated by the Jesuits, as was I. I have a real affinity for him.

[calimary]

34. That Jesuit background thing gets me, too.

I liked him as soon as I started getting to know him.

I had thought Clinton/Castro sounded good, with one of the smart capable young Castro brothers helping to rope Texas in, and plant seeds for even greater future success with the Latino vote. But this is a good choice. A GREAT choice! Plus he's bilingual, which is a big advantage and growing bigger all the time. The Latino voting bloc is going to be all-powerful in the years to come. The numbers are with THEM. I'd like to see OUR tribe put the first Latino/Latina in the Oval Office. Because OUR tribe put the first African American in the Oval Office, and hopefully will follow that by putting the first woman in the Oval Office. Unfortunately, there's Marco Rubio...

[IrishEyes]

22. I have always liked Tim Kaine.

I was glad that she picked him. He has tons of experience as a mayor, governor and senator. He seems like a really nice person. I think he will make a great vice president. I will miss Joe Biden but he is a good choice to take over for Biden.

[JHan]

23. He's an amalgamation of every TV Network Dad from the 80's..

So he gets a thumbs up from me..

[IronLionZion]

24. He's quite liberal

and it's good that VA has a Dem governor to appoint a replacement.

[DemonGoddess]

25. When she chose him, I knew very little about him

so, I started looking at his record, and other things that I am wont to do for any candidate I'm looking at. The more I learned, the more I liked!

[democrattotheend]

26. I have to disagree

I used to live in Virginia and I like Tim Kaine, but I feel like Hillary might be in a better position right now if she had chosen someone like Elizabeth Warren who excited the base a little more.

[radius777]

37. Warren would've been a disaster, her appeal is narrow.

As much as she's loved by white progressives, she has little to no electoral appeal outside of this.

Many other negatives: lacks the resume to be president, from a blue northeastern state (just like Hillary, i.e. no geographic balance), is a woman (they never would've gone with two women, Hillary has a hard enough time with sexist media narratives as it is).

[dhol82]

27. Good choice.

From everything I have read he is a good man.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

28. Warren does her best work in the Senate anyway

Ex-Republican reining in their insane excesses. She does better on her own. Plus, we can't afford to lose her seat.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[berksdem]

30. Basic...

I know this is simple but it is nice to see a politician that truly seems to be a good person. And this is why I love Hillary - a good person that cares about the country.

I pray this is a landslide, ..

[calimary]

35. Welcome to DU, berksdem!

He's totally refreshing, for sure! But then again, I believe Hillary is, too: another good and decent person who cares about the country. All she wants to do is work. Work for us. And she picks good teammates. Like Tim Kaine. It also says a lot about her that she wasn't afraid or so insecure or paranoid that she picked a running mate who couldn't step into her job. I've seen too many management types who don't want their people to be smarter or more resourceful or creative or hard-working than they are. It's a strong, confident, secure, and EXCELLENT manager who is not afraid to assemble a team of powerful and smart associates - any one of whom could take over for her.

[JCat]

31. Just saw him in Appleton WI

With Tammy Baldwin and Russ Feingold. He gave an amazing speech and really fired up the crowd. Not only that, but he is a warm and caring person.

[calimary]

36. Welcome to DU, JCat!

How cool! I'm hoping you'll have Russ Feingold back at work for you soon! Certainly that Ron Johnson jerk doesn't represent you worthily. Frankly, I'm insulted that ANYONE would presume to unseat Russ Feingold, much less claim they're better than he is and that they should keep Feingold's office (in which Johnson is a mere squatter, in my opinion, and rightfully should be temporary). I'm insulted. And I'm not even from Wisconsin.

[AgadorSparticus]

39. I was REALLY disappointed at first that it wasn't E. Warren.

But the Orlando speech wowed me. It was instant love. I felt then that the Hillary campaign hit a bullseye with this one. He is a GREAT fit strategically and personally.

And hell....he plays the harmonica! He could not be any cuter if he tried.

[FSogol]

41. Agreed. Kaine was a solid pick. n/t