Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is joined by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., as she speaks at a rally at Florida International University Panther Arena in Miami, Saturday. Clinton has chosen Kaine to be her running mate. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)It all sounds good. Great, in fact.
And despite recent headlines, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's choice of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as a running mate seems anything but boring.
Not being a reality TV star is a dramatic plus for the nitty-gritty of governing, and Tim Kaine emerges as a steady governing pick for both Clinton and Democratic voters.
Here's the rundown on a man with Midwestern roots and Southern connections who's been a missionary, a lawyer, a city councilman, a mayor, a lieutenant governor, a governor, and a U.S. senator now serving on the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees:
- He's 58 and a white male, likely to shore up support with white working-class voters.
- A Catholic, he took a year off from Harvard law school to work as a missionary in Honduras, so he speaks fluent Spanish - already a big plus in the pivotal state of Florida where he and Clinton chose to begin their joint campaign.
- He is the son of a welder. He was born in Minnesota, raised in Kansas and graduated from the University of Missouri.
- He served as city councilman in Richmond, Va., before being elected mayor. Virginia elected him lieutenant governor, governor and senator. Perhaps the most important words in this resume are mayor and governor: People who've been mayors and governors know how to get things done by really governing and working across party lines for the goals of the people.
On issues, Kaine is solidly progressive.
He supports the Affordable Care Act. He is a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform, favoring a pathway to citizenship for immigrants. As Virginia governor, he pushed to offer universal pre-kindergarten. He opposes the use of the death penalty.
As governor, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the carrying of guns in vehicles, and in the Senate, he introduced gun control bills. In fact, when he ran for the Senate in 2012, the National Rifle Association gave him the best progressive badge possible: an "F" on the NRA's endorsement chart.
On the environment, Kaine has spoken out strongly about the need and "responsibility" to address global climate change. He opposed the Keystone XL pipeline and has a lifetime score of 91 percent from the League of Conservation Voters. He protected 400,000 acres of land from being developed when he was governor of Virginia.
Clinton and now, yes, Kaine have - in the parlance of politics, "evolved" on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Kaine, who initially supported it, reportedly is "reversing course," according to CBS News. A Clinton aide confirmed to CBS that Kaine made a private commitment to Clinton that he would now oppose TPP, lining up with her declared view.
He also has shown evolving views on women's rights. As a Catholic, Kaine recently acknowledged he's personally "opposed to abortion," and as governor he signed bills that tightened access. But his supporters say he can separate church from state, and as a senator his pro-choice voting record earned him a perfect score from Planned Parenthood.
Thinkprogress.org says Kaine is seen as more hawkish than some Democrats on foreign policy. Like Clinton, he called for a no-fly zone around Syria. He describes himself as a "strongly pro-Israel Democrat," but he had the backbone to boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's breach-of-protocol speech to Congress when Netanyahu railed against the Iran nuclear agreement.
Kaine worked with our own Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, to allow Congress a vote on Obama's nuclear deal with Iran - a vote that didn't include a lot of amendments adding conservative nonsense. Then Kaine backed the agreement and helped rally enough bipartisan support to give it a try.
Kaine is well-liked by fellow senators - Republicans and Democrats. Corker called his choice "solid," and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander said Kaine is "well-respected."
Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark also gives Kaine, whose son is in the service, a strong thumbs up.
All in all, Kaine seems a very strong choice - a bit out of the Joe Biden mold. Not only is he a doer, not a talker, he also offers help in the swing state of Virginia without endangering Democrat-held Senate seats in the states where other possible vice presidential picks like Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sherrod Brown of Ohio would have given the Republican governors an opportunity to appoint GOP replacements.
Well done, Clinton.