This comes as no surprise, it was the obvious cautious choice. Hillary Clinton Selects Tim Kaine, a Centrist Senator From a Swing State, as Running Mate:
Hillary Clinton named Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia to be her running mate Friday, according to a senior campaign official, selecting a battleground state politician with working-class roots and a fluency in Spanish, traits that she believes can bolster her chances to defeat Donald J. Trump in November.
Mrs. Clinton decided that Mr. Kaine, 58, a former governor of Virginia who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and speaks fluent Spanish, had the qualifications and background and the personal chemistry with her to make the ticket a success.
In the end, Mrs. Clinton, who told PBS she is “afflicted with the responsibility gene,” avoided taking a chance with a less experienced vice-presidential candidate and felt no political need to push the historic nature of her candidacy by adding another woman or a minority to the ticket.
Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Kaine have similar centrist positions on foreign policy, education and criminal justice and they are said to share an easy rapport and a love of granular policy-making. “I do have a fondness for wonks,” Mrs. Clinton said in the PBS interview.
Asked whether Mr. Kaine was boring, Mrs. Clinton said “I love that about him.” She added, “He’s never lost an election.”
At a campaign stop with Mrs. Clinton in Annandale, Va., last week, Mr. Kaine tried out for the role. “Do you want a ‘You’re fired’ president or a ‘You’re hired’ president?” he asked the crowd. “Do you want a trash-talking president or a bridge-building president?”
Known as a pragmatic governor and senator, Mr. Kaine could help Mrs. Clinton appeal to independent voters and moderate Republicans displeased with Mr. Trump. But he could also turn off some liberal Democrats with his support of free trade agreements, which Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont criticized to great effect in his nominating fight against Mrs. Clinton.
The son of a welder who owned a small metalworking shop, Mr. Kaine, a Roman Catholic, grew up in the Kansas City area. He attended a Jesuit boarding school and took a break from law school at Harvard to spend time as a Catholic missionary in Honduras, an experience that his family has said shaped him and helped him become fluent in Spanish.
Mrs. Clinton is expected to formally introduce Mr. Kaine as her running mate during a campaign swing through Florida, either at a rally at the state fairgrounds in Tampa on Friday or on Saturday at Florida International University in Miami, which has a large number of Hispanic students.
Mr. Kaine worked on fair housing and civil right issues as a lawyer. He was elected to the city council in Richmond, Va., in 1994, then proceeded to climb the ranks of elected office in the state. He became city’s mayor in 1998, the state’s lieutenant governor in 2002 and its governor in 2006. He also served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
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Mr. Kaine was an early endorser of Senator Barack Obama’s presidential bid in the 2008 nominating fight against Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Kaine was also considered on Mr. Obama’s short list of vice-presidential candidates before Mr,. Obama selected Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware. In 2012, Mr. Kaine defeated George Allen, a Republican, to take the Senate seat being vacated by the Democrat Jim Webb.
Mrs. Clinton’s choice of Mr. Kaine underscores the changing demographics of Virginia, with its growing urban and minority populations.
Mr. Obama defeated John McCain in the state by more than six percentage points, the first time since Lyndon B. Johnson’s victory in 1964 that the state had voted for a Democratic presidential nominee. An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll from July 15 shows Mrs. Clinton ahead of Mr. Trump for the state’s 13 electoral votes by nine percentage points.
Sen. Kaine is also from a state with a Democratic governor who can appoint a Democrat to fill his seat if elected. That was a key factor for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.
UPDATE: Arizona Senator Jeff Flake is on board. Where’s Johnny?
So Wall Street warned Clinton that funding would dry up if she picked Warren, so Clinton picks Kaine, and Kaine has proposed deregulating the banks.
Why does Hillary Clinton hate me so much? I want to vote for her, but she keeps fighting me.
Well, since yesterday, Trump’s numbers have improved on Nate Silver’s model. Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have actually moved closer to Trump. Florida and Ohio are extremely worrisome with a total of 47 (29 + 18) electoral votes.
The Democrats need to bring it and fast. “Trump is the Devil from Hell” as a campaign strategy is not going to win Florida and Ohio.
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/
Both Nate Silver and Nate Cohn at the New York Times have warned you not to pay attention to the polls at this time of year. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/upshot/were-about-to-enter-a-period-of-polling-volatility.html
I’ve warned readers before, polls do not matter until after Labor Day. Right now polls are just statistical noise.
That article was not authored by Nate Silver which might explain why he uses his election forecast model to speak to current trends at this stage, uncertainty, and other election related issues. In this article, published eight days ago, he is already making the point that Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania the key states for Democrats.
What would keep me up late at night if I were Clinton?
We’ve gone over most of the reasons for concern. I’d be worried about those trend lines. I’d be worried about my numbers in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, especially after having spent a lot of money on ads. In a big-picture sense, I’d be worried that Americans come to view the race as one between two equally terrible choices, instead of Trump being uniquely unacceptable.
There is more here than just “noise”, I’m afraid.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-10-questions-about-where-the-2016-race-stands/
JUN 29, 2016 AT 2:18 PM
A User’s Guide To FiveThirtyEight’s 2016 General Election Forecast
By Nate Silver
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-users-guide-to-fivethirtyeights-2016-general-election-forecast/
“Fear and loathing in Cleveland. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump led his foreboding acceptance speech Thursday night by saying “safety will be restored” to an America “in crisis” after the Obama administration’s “rollback of criminal enforcement.” Saying he is the “law and order candidate,” he pledged to “work with, and appoint, the best prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the country” but offered no specifics on how they will reduce local crime. Similarly, he mentioned the toll of gun violence in Chicago — the president’s hometown — but offered no specifics on how to stem it other than to reiterate his support from the National Rifle Association. THE WASHINGTON POST
Related: Read the speech transcript, as prepared for delivery. POLITICO TMP Context: Fact-checking criminal justice claims in Cleveland this week (and stay tuned for a new Trump-centric fact check Monday).
THE MARSHALL PROJECT Meanwhile: Here are quick fact checks from THE WASHINGTON POST, VOX, POLITIFACT, and THE NEW YORK TIMES.
Supported Bernie. Wanted Cory Booker, for VP. But, after watching the dystopian Trump convention (and mob prosecution of Hillary). Chilling and dangerous.
Tim Kaine is the best choice to beat Trump. Kaine has the mood and temperament we need for the tough decisions that lie ahead. The top Dem contenders will be more powerful staying in Congress.
Fix the broken criminal justice system. Hillary needs to start with dismantle Bill’s AEDPA to restore fair justice for all. Why isn’t anyone raising this question?
do no harm? he does harm with bernie supporters who were trying to hold their nose and vote for hillary if she picked warren. its 40/40 in the polls now. he supports tpp.
Kaine has a 91% pro-environment record with the League of Conservation Voters, Human Rights Watch, and Planned Parenthood approve of him. He is well-liked and even-tempered. That’s good enough for me. Perfection is over-rated.
Oh troll, if only you could get your facts straight (as if that even matters to you). http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/kaine-comes-out-against-trans-pacific-partnership-deal-226064
“Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate, has gone on record saying he cannot support the Trans-Pacific Partnership in its current form — a stance calculated to make him more appealing to supporters of Bernie Sanders who revile the deal.
Kaine spokeswoman Amy Dudley said Saturday that the Virginia Democrat shared his negative views on the trade deal with Clinton this week, confirming a report by The Washington Post. “He agreed with her judgment that it fell short” when it came to protecting wages and national security, a Clinton aide reportedly told the newspaper.”
The Democratic ticket is actually opposed to President Obama on the TPP.