Hillary Clinton campaigned with potential vice presidential running-mate U.S. Senator Tim Kaine in his home state of Virginia on Thursday (July 14), testing whether the person widely seen as the “safe choice” can propel her to the White House in November.
Kaine’s 16-minute introduction of the presumptive Democratic nominee in a community college gymnasium in the Washington suburb of Annandale reflected Clinton’s need to reach out to Hispanic voters with her vice presidential pick. Kaine, a former missionary in Honduras who speaks Spanish, peppered his introduction with Spanish phrases and criticism of Republican Donald Trump’s statements regarding Latinos. He also made reference to presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s reality television program “The Apprentice” where he famously told people “You’re fired.”
“But he’s a you’re fired guy, outsourcing jobs, stiffing contractors, being against minimum wage, being against equal pay for women, fighting aginst labor, he’s a you’re fired guy,” Kaine told the supportive crowd.
Kaine could help Clinton check a lot of boxes in the list of requirements for a running mate.
The former civil rights lawyer is a Virginian, which could help Clinton win a battleground state in the Nov. 8 race against Trump. Such states are hotly contested because their populations can swing either to Republicans or Democrats and play a decisive role in presidential elections.
Kaine is also affable, savvy about foreign policy and has executive experience as a former governor of Virginia and a former mayor of Richmond, the state’s capital.
Though the Clinton campaign is keeping the vice presidential selection process tightly under wraps, many Democrats in Washington see Kaine as the front-runner.
Some Democrats in Congress and in outside groups want to see Clinton make a more unconventional pick for her already historic run as the first female presidential nominee of a major party.
Hillary Clinton told the crowd she was looking forward to the upcoming Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.
“So my friends, we are going to have a great convention in Philadelphia. I have no idea what’s going to happen in Cleveland.” It is going to be entertaining, I’m sure, if you’re in to bigotry, bluster and bullying. If you’re into drawing lines between Americans, if you’re into insulting groups of Americans” clinton told supporters.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a fierce critic of Wall Street, and Julian Castro, a Latino who is the U.S. secretary of housing and urban development, are two possibilities mentioned by Democrats who want to see Clinton go with a bold choice before the Democratic convention in Philadelphia July 25-28.
Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Representative Xavier Becerra of California, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and, more recently, retired Navy Admiral James Stavridis have also been mentioned as possibilities.
Thursday’s event with Kaine gave Clinton an opportunity to gauge whether the 58-year-old, Harvard-educated senator would help her fire up a crowd and make for a comfortable fit on the campaign trail.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016
