Washington (CNN)Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine is emerging as an early favorite to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate among major Democratic donors, operatives and congressional Democrats, who argue the Spanish-speaking former governor could be a steady hand in a difficult election environment.
As the party establishment begins to shift its attention to a likely general election matchup against Donald Trump, many Democrats are now arguing that Kaine could help balance out the ticket by helping Clinton with independents in swing states and even expand the political map in the fall with his moderate profile, executive experience and foreign policy background.
And as a politician from a southern state who has endured tough elections, proponents believe he can handle the grind of a high-profile presidential campaign.
“It’s hard to construct a short list for vice president that he’s not on,” said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist and Clinton backer.
“He has a business sense and international experience (and) speaks Spanish, which are both pluses,” said Glen Fukushima, a Democratic donor who gave $100,000 to Clinton’s super PAC last year. “He also has experience as a governor, which could complement Hillary’s background.”
Other Democrats on Clinton’s presumed list of potential picks would be far more historic than Kaine, including women such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, African-American pols like Sen. Cory Booker and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and two Latinos: Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Julian Castro, secretary of housing and urban development.
Two other senators are viewed as potential running mates, including Kaine’s Virginia colleague, Mark Warner, and the progressive populist Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Brown told CNN last month that “I don’t really want” to be vice president.
What could help Kaine’s case is that his state has a Democratic governor, Terry McAuliffe, ensuring that the balance of power in the Senate wouldn’t be affected if he became VP since the governor could name an interim replacement. Moreover, as a former head of the Democratic National Committee, Kaine has amassed a network of donors important for a national campaign.
Some of Kaine’s allies are pushing his name, including in Virginia.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, who represents a suburban Northern Virginia district outside Washington, told CNN that he is hearing from both voters and party activists about speculation on Kaine as a possible running mate. But he also said the same people are speaking highly of Warner, whom he also praised as a logical choice for Clinton.
“Kaine has a lot going for him — he’s Catholic, from a swing state, successful governor, speaks fluent Spanish, has political chops, was the head of the DNC,” Connolly said. “He provides a lot of talent to the ticket and could step in and could certainly be an heir apparent.”
A Roman Catholic who taught at a Honduran mission during his law school years, Kaine is personally opposed to abortion but he is supportive of women’s right to choose and opposes weakening laws permitting abortion.
But Kaine’s allies say he would be able to excite the base by tapping into concerns of income inequality, an issue of prime importance to the base.
“Low-income people, minorities, elderly, people that usually get the short of end of the stick would consider Tim Kaine a friend,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, a Democrat who represents Richmond and has known Kaine since he started his political career.
source http://allofbeer.com/2017/10/03/buzz-grows-in-dem-circles-over-kaine-as-clinton-vp/
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