Who will be Clinton's running mate?

[Merneith]

@BobLibDem

The rollouts for each veep are telling- Trump talked about Trump and got off the stage pronto. Trump not letting Pence get a word in edgewise on 60 Minutes. Trump leaking that he wanted to change his mind.

This has been a good roll out. Smart of Clinton to do this now, grabbing the spotlight and not letting Trump set the conversation ahead of the DNC.

[adaher]

@Snowboarder_Bo

Thanks; just got done watching it.

IMO he hit every note and he hit them all out of the park (how’s that for a mixed metaphor?). This was an astounding VP announcement speech.

Like many (and like he acknowledged), I had never heard of him before this election cycle AFAICR. He presents himself well. He comes across as very approachable, friendly and upbeat. I think he will be an incredible asset to her campaign, to the point that I think he will bring in votes that otherwise would have gone to Trump-Pence.

And I think it says a lot about Mrs. Clinton that she picked him, all of it good.

Yes, Clinton’s biggest strength is that she actually does care about governing well and she seems to have a natural skill for it.

I’m surprised so many haven’t heard of Tim Kaine. This is not his first time in the spotlight:

1. Head of the DNC
2. On Obama’s 2008 shortlist for VP
3. Gave a well received SOTU response at the end of the Bush years

I would think he’d be a name very familiar to Dopers at least.

[adaher]

@dalej42

Donald Trump thinks gifts that Kaine received as governor of Virginia should be an issue against him. Too bad the Washington Post has an article today about Pence using campaign contributions to pay his mortgage and car payments during an earlier failed election.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mike-pence-used-campaign-funds-to-pay-his-mortgage--and-it-cost-him-an-election/2016/07/15/90858964-49ed-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html

It is a fair issue to bring up, equivalent to Clinton’s money grubbing over the years although not nearly on the same scale.

The politician without issues in his past doesn’t exist, unless he’s got no record. The gifts thing will be the primary means by which to attack Kaine, and it’s a completely fair attack. It’s also fair of course to bring up Pence’s issues.

Politicians being too eager to accept rewards from special interests for a job well done(for the special interests) is an all too common problem in politics that needs to be addressed.

[running_coach]

@adaher

It is a fair issue to bring up, equivalent to Clinton’s money grubbing over the years although not nearly on the same scale.

The politician without issues in his past doesn’t exist, unless he’s got no record. The gifts thing will be the primary means by which to attack Kaine, and it’s a completely fair attack. It’s also fair of course to bring up Pence’s issues.

Politicians being too eager to accept rewards from special interests for a job well done(for the special interests) is an all too common problem in politics that needs to be addressed.

Kaine’s gifts.

Now, when you think of tens of thousands of dollars in gifts, you might envision expensive swag. For the most part, that isn’t what we’re talking about here. Instead, about three-quarters of these “gifts” are payment for Kaine’s travel — airfare and accommodations — to various events.

Furthermore, over $100,000 of the $160,000 total were travel expenses paid for by the 2008 Obama presidential campaign ($45,000), Kaine’s own leadership committee ($20,000), the Democratic Party of Virginia ($11,000), and Virginia’s economic development agency ($32,000) — all relating to events that Kaine attended.

[Jophiel]

Listened to Kaine’s speech today and thought he was great. Humble, optimistic, has a story and attitude about the diametric opposite of Trump’s message. I don’t think he’s going to single-handedly make some giant impact since VP’s seem to disappear after the convention aside from the VP debate but I think he’ll give one hell of a speech this week.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Here’s CNN with an interesting historical perspective on Kaine: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/23/politics/tim-kaine-vice-president-hillary-clinton/?iid=ob_article_organicsidebar_expansion

[adaher]

@Jophiel

Listened to Kaine’s speech today and thought he was great. Humble, optimistic, has a story and attitude about the diametric opposite of Trump’s message.

Therein lies the potential danger. The RNC hit exactly the right note by portraying Clinton/Kaine as the very epitome of the status quo: both are very typical politicians with a history of advantageous flip flops. It does create a stark contrast to Trump/Pence, to be sure, but do voters really want to reelect the establishment? I guess we’ll find out.

[Happy_Lendervedder]

@adaher

Therein lies the potential danger. The RNC hit exactly the right note by portraying Clinton/Kaine as the very epitome of the status quo: both are very typical politicians with a history of advantageous flip flops. It does create a stark contrast to Trump/Pence, to be sure, but do voters really want to reelect the establishment? I guess we’ll find out.

I think what we’ll really find out is how many voters are willing to stick their dick in crazy. Hopefully not more than half of them.

[TonySinclair]

@adaher

Therein lies the potential danger. The RNC hit exactly the right note by portraying Clinton/Kaine as the very epitome of the status quo: both are very typical politicians with a history of advantageous flip flops. It does create a stark contrast to Trump/Pence, to be sure, but do voters really want to reelect the establishment? I guess we’ll find out.

I have nothing against new ideas, but not when they’re on a par with making people wear their underwear on the outside.

[adaher]

Quite true. If only there were more intelligent anti-establishment figures out there.

[Rick_Kitchen]

@TonySinclair

I have nothing against new ideas, but not when they’re on a par with making people wear their underwear on the outside.

What do you have against Superman?

[TonySinclair]

@Rick_Kitchen

What do you have against Superman?

He’s an illegal alien.

[Fear_Itself]

@adaher

Therein lies the potential danger. The RNC hit exactly the right note by portraying Clinton/Kaine as the very epitome of the status quo: both are very typical politicians with a history of advantageous flip flops. It does create a stark contrast to Trump/Pence, to be sure, but do voters really want to reelect the establishment? I guess we’ll find out.

How is Kaine a contrast to Pence? Both are establishment candidates. Anyone, even Bernie is a contrast to Trump; sane and crazy. You would have to be some kind of comic book supervillain to not contrast with Trump.

[adaher]

Pence is not really establishment. He was part of an insurgent group within the GOP called the Republican Study Committee, which was the Tea Party before the Tea Party. He tried to defeat John Boehner as leader of House Republicans. Not one of the bills Pence ever proposed became law in over a decade in Congress. Which would normally look bad, unless you’re an anti-establishment guy.

[ElvisL1ves]

@Snowboarder_Bo

You did hear the bit about how he learned Spanish, right?

Yes, but the point was about speaking Spanish in itself being important, compared to dedication to issues.

[JRDelirious]

Well, he WAS launching in MIAMi, South Florida. He’d probably have an idea if how much of a proportion of that audience were American citizens whose primary home language is Spanish.

[wonky]

Does Kaine speak Spanish well enough to do full speeches? If so, I think it would be great if he scheduled some appearances that were solely in Spanish. His fluency or accent might not be quite up to that.

[ElvisL1ves]

@jsgoddess

Does Kaine speak Spanish well enough to do full speeches?

Si.

He’ll make a fine 46th President, btw. He’ll still only be 64 in 2024.

[Fear_Itself]

@ElvisL1ves

Si.

He’ll make a fine 46th President, btw. He’ll still only be 64 in 2024.

Ayiyiii! The fifth term of the Obama administration!