It is a ballsy choice to go full on establishment in an election cycle where the people are crying out for something else. I think if the republican candidate was anyone else, they would have had a REALLY good chance. Even still, i think this election is going to be closer than some people think and this pick doesn’t really excite.
I’m not thrilled that both democrats on the ticket support TPP, but it is a two party system so what choice do we really have. Still, the Clinton campaign is super low energy/enthusiasm. She needs to do something to get people excited because I fear that relying on people to vote against someone else rarely works.
Both are against it. She has been for some time, in fact.
In addition, a Clinton aide told The Huffington Post that Kaine had told the former secretary of state that he would oppose President Barack Obama’s signature trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, in its current form. The aide said that at some point in Kaine and Clinton’s two conversations prior to the selection ― which she made Friday night, eight days after the first meeting ― he agreed with her that a trade deal had to meet certain criteria on protecting wages and national security, and that the TPP did not.
Kaine has supported legislation known as Trade Promotion Authority, for fast-track authority, which expedites trade deals like the TPP, but in relaying his opposition to it to Clinton, he formally came out against the TPP on substantive grounds.
I think a lack of excitement in the Dems so far has simply been because this past week was intentionally owned by the GOP. Hopefully the dem convention this upcoming week injects some energy into the campaign.
If anything, I hope it ends up being great for the dems that the GOP shitshow got out of the way first.
Yep, that was my first thought - that Clinton and the DNC are confident enough that they’ll eventually win over Bernie supporters without Warren on the ticket, since both Bernie and Warren have thoroughly endorsed her and will probably campaign heavily both during and after the convention.
What they really need is for more moderate conservatives.
No one really wants Warren to stop working in the Senate to go to state dinners and other useless crap anyway.
Let’s be honest, being the VP is akin to being retired unless you’re Cheney or something. Or apparently Trump’s VP, then you get to do the President job.
I’m coming around on the Kaine thing. He’s got a great resume and background, and he’s certainly someone I would be comfortable with stepping into the presidency. He also, as has been noted, has the potential to further solidify the solid, comfortable, workmanlike nature of the Democratic campaign vs the batshit stuff that’s happening over on the ® side.
Exciting, no, and in the end it’s maybe a wash in terms of the loss of potential enthusiasm vs catching some moderate Republican votes.
You’ve got allow the candidate to pick a VP that they have a strong rapport with. Obama and Biden are a great example of that. They seem like they are good friends, and as much as the VP slot is inconsequential, I know that Biden has consistently been “in the room where it happens”, and has the ear of the president. He’s also, in his slightly bumbling way, driven policy.
Yeah, Clinton made a good pick. Solid blue collar story, a life of helping other folks, a good history of governing.
And he’s got a positive, easy going vibe about him. His positivity reminds me of Obama in some ways.
And honestly, after last week, it feels good to hear someone say something good. I think that I was starting to feel pretty depressed seeing where the GOP has gone. I’m still not really a Democrat, but having someone on that side saying something positive will make it easier vote for them this cycle.
@teddygoff 18h18 hours ago
I’ve never met a single person who’s worked with or for Tim Kaine who doesn’t adore Tim Kaine. That’s a rare thing in politics.
He’s a total policy nerd. A little micro-managery. He’d probably regularly annoy you if you worked for him. But if you want a pick that takes the Trump pot off the boil, Kaine’s your man. He’s not a leftie firebrand like Warren, but he’s steady.
In case anyone else (like me) doesn’t know what Resting Bitch Face is, a link:
As far as Kaine, he has some positions and votes I disagree with, but VP is about carrying out the President’s agenda. Regardless, I’ll take Clinton/Kain at 80% vs 0% from GOP/Trump.
Of course, the Bernie-or-Bust crowd at reddit is reacting as if Hillary chose Gingrich as her VP. Between that and the email leaks, they’re in maximum circlejerk mode. We may see some ritualized self-immolations! ;)
