Tim Kaine’s Dynamic Debut With Clinton Perfectly Illustrates Why She Selected Him

Hillary Clinton made her debut with Virginia senator Tim Kaine as her running mate on Saturday, after announcing him as her vice presidential pick on Friday. You can watch the full video of their first joint appearance above.

According to the New York Times, both showed up nearly an hour late to an afternoon rally at Florida International University in Miami. The announcement was meant to allow the Clinton campaign to build up momentum leading into the Democratic National Convention next week, and to position both candidates as being the inclusive, sensible alternatives to Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Clinton made the comparison explicit in her introduction:

“Tim Kaine is everything Donald Trump and Mike Pence are not,” Mrs. Clinton said in introducing her running mate at the rally. “He is qualified to step into this job and lead on day one.”

She also previewed the DNC in Philadelphia next week, promising that it would be about celebrating diversity and “building bridges, not walls.”

Kaine then made a speech in which he told he the crowd that “we’re all Americans” in Spanish to wild cheering. It was a smart move, since 61 percent of Florida International University’s student body is Hispanic.

Kaine also spoke about his son, a marine who is being deployed soon to help protect America abroad. Kaine said that servicemen like his son need a commander-in-chief with the “experience and the temperament to lead,” unlike Donald Trump, who repeatedly called the military a disaster. Showing off his foreign policy knowledge as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, Kaine criticizes Trump for saying that he would leave America’s allies to deal with Vladimir Putin’s Russia on their own. When someone from the crowd yells “Trump is crazy,” Kaine easily jokes that he’s hiring for the speechwriting team.

He also criticized Trump on a host of other issues, saying, “From Atlantic City to his so-called university, he leaves a trail of broken promises and wrecked lives wherever he goes.”

Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast gave Kaine a rave review, saying that he held himself as the perfect antidote to the negativity that surrounds Clinton:

And part of the way through, this thought struck me: He is the perfect choice for her because he comes across as so at ease and so real. These are two things, as we know, that Hillary Clinton has a lot of trouble with. She’s too scripted, she’s a phony, all that stuff. Kaine was just so easy-breezy, so comfortable with himself and in this role, that he has the potential to wash away a decent chunk of that negativity about her.

Could this be the beginning of Kaine-mania? His credentials are pretty impressive. Before becoming senator, he was governor of Virginia, a crucial swing state in this election, and could appeal to independents and even Republicans on the fence about voting for Trump. And now he has a well-received debut in Miami.

(via New York Times and Daily Beast)

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