Kaine or Warner as VP?

[henster]

Kaine
- fluent in Spanish
- executive experience

Warner
-very popular former Governor
-likely lock down VA for Clinton

Wealth may be a very big problem for Warner with Clinton. Two multi-millionaires on a ticket would not look good and Kaine is significantly less wealthy than either Warner or Clinton. Warner is also more conservative than Hillary I don't he would resonate with the base well. Also Kaine's Spanish speaking skills could be crucial especially against someone like Martinez who very well could be the GOPs VP nominee.   

[NHLiberal]

I agree that in theory Kaine may be better for the reasons you outlined, but if Hillary is gonna go with someone from Virginia it would definitely be Warner. Regardless of all that you said, he's still much more well known and popular; Kaine is a bit of a lightweight compared to him. It would just look really weird if she picked Kaine over Warner.

[henster]

I agree that in theory Kaine may be better for the reasons you outlined, but if Hillary is gonna go with someone from Virginia it would definitely be Warner. Regardless of all that you said, he's still much more well known and popular; Kaine is a bit of a lightweight compared to him. It would just look really weird if she picked Kaine over Warner.

Maybe Warner would want to stay in the Senate and build seniority I still think Kaine's Spanish speaking are very important and cannot be overlooked. Being able to communicate effectively with Latino voters is very important not sure who Warner would bring to the fold she already hasn't.

[Suburbia]

Warner is more safer choice than Kaine. Some people view Kaine as a lightweight for some reason, I don't. He would help with Hispanic voters, and he's a little bit more charismatic than Warner.

[henster]

Clinton and Warner's net worth combined would be around 400 million dollars. Do you really think it would be "safe" for her with all the fuss about her wealth to pick a multimillionaire as her running mate? If Hillary is really worried about VA then she picks Warner but if she's polling well there then she doesn't really need him.

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

You can't underestimate not having to worry about VA though. The VP pick has to come from a swing state this time.

[Never]

You can't underestimate not having to worry about VA though. The VP pick has to come from a swing state this time.

^^^ I completely agree.

Clinton and Warner's net worth combined would be around 400 million dollars. Do you really think it would be "safe" for her with all the fuss about her wealth to pick a multimillionaire as her running mate? If Hillary is really worried about VA then she picks Warner but if she's polling well there then she doesn't really need him.

Even though Mark Warner is quite wealthy like Hillary Clinton, I don't think that his addition to the Democratic ticket as running mate would seriously drag her down. Warner is the kind of person who would be difficult to caricature as Mitt Romney 2.0.

[Mr. Morden]

Kaine's personality seems a bit more suited to being the #2, rather than the guy in charge.  Though maybe I'm biased by the fact that I briefly lived in Virginia when Warner was governor and Kaine was lieutenant governor.

Also, Kaine's a little younger, so with him you won't have two people on the ticket over the age of 60.

[moderatevoter]

I remember seeing it somewhere here, but didn't Hillary think Kaine was a terrible choice for VP for Obama in 2008?

I think Warner is a safer pick if it's all about who can guarantee Virginia, but he also adds less to the ticket. Not that I see Kaine as particularly risky.

Having met both of them numerous times, Kaine is more likeable and personable than Mark Warner.

[Bull Moose Base]

I remember seeing it somewhere here, but didn't Hillary think Kaine was a terrible choice for VP for Obama in 2008?

I think Warner is a safer pick if it's all about who can guarantee Virginia, but he also adds less to the ticket. Not that I see Kaine as particularly risky.

Having met both of them numerous times, Kaine is more likeable and personable than Mark Warner.

Yeah but Kaine hadn't even finished his term as governor and Obama's weakness was inexperience. Not the same with Kaine in 4th year as a senator, following 4 as governor. Also, Hillary's weakness isn't inexperience. Or maybe her saying that means she thinks it's dumb for a nominee to pick someone so inexperienced.. Or maybe it just means her idea is don't compound your biggest weakness. And Warner seems to have more potential to do that to her.

[moderatevoter]

Ok, that's valid. I didn't have or remember much context to it -- just remembered something about Hillary thinking Kaine would be a poor pick.

[BaconBacon96]

Warner's a safer pick who could probably easily lock up Virginia, but Kaine is potentially a more rewarding pick, for some of the reasons outlined above.

[henster]

You can't underestimate not having to worry about VA though. The VP pick has to come from a swing state this time.

If Hillary is trailing badly in VA then I could Warner as an essential pick for her. But if she is doing relatively well there she doesn't need him as badly. I mean if she's polling like Obama was in Ohio or PA in 2012 then she's fine.

[Mr. Morden]

"Locking up a swing state" isn't really that common a strategy for VP picks these days.  Remember that we have recent running mates from states like Alaska, Delaware, Connecticut, etc.

[henster]

I'd rather have Kaine who can effectively communicate with Latinos against Martinez than Warner who just seems like a boring dull white guy. I think Kaine is the best non-Latino Dems can hope for, and for all the talk about Castro the guy isn't even fluent in Spanish...

["'Oeps!' De blunders van Rick Perry Indicted"]

I'd rather have Kaine who can effectively communicate with Latinos against Martinez than Warner who just seems like a boring dull white guy. I think Kaine is the best non-Latino Dems can hope for, and for all the talk about Castro the guy isn't even fluent in Spanish...

Hahaha. Hispanics really don't care that much about whether an Anglo politician speaks Spanish or not (I say this as a white Hispanic who doesn't speak it myself). It won George W. Bush some points, sure, and maybe Dukakis back in the Eighties, but neither of the Clintons speak Spanish, nor does Barack Obama, and it didn't hurt them a bit. Bilingual or not, Tim Kaine is himself very much a boring white guy - maybe even more boring than Warner. He also has weird eyebrows.

Warner's money comes from his business career, which, given the whole "job creator" meme, is a weird angle for Republican to attack. It's not like Edwards, who was a trial attorney - and boy, do Republicans hate that - or Kerry, married to a ketchup heiress.

[BaconBacon96]

"Locking up a swing state" isn't really that common a strategy for VP picks these days.  Remember that we have recent running mates from states like Alaska, Delaware, Connecticut, etc.

Connecticut? Which VP candidate was from there?

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

Lieberman.

[Ogre Mage]

Both would be solid picks.  Neither is really loved by the base, but Warner would be slightly more controversial due to his work on deficit reduction which was distrusted by some liberal members of our party.  Also, I have heard rumors about Warner's past private life.  For obvious reasons that is a scenario Hillary in particular would want to avoid.

Kaine has served as a No. 2 before, will have a good level of experience by 2016 and IMO he is slightly more liberal than Warner, which is a plus.  He would be a boring pick but if we are following the standard "do no harm" rule for the running mate selection, he looks like the better choice to me.

[Mister Mets]

Warner seems to have more political gifts, but Kaine's also a solid choice. It might all come down to who she gets along with better, and who does better in vetting.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Both are as boring as a dry dishrag.

[Bull Moose Base]

I get the feeling McAuliffe is the Virginian she'd want for VP if she could appoint someone after the election, but she would never pick him in a close race. But maybe she'd feel safe enough picking him if she has a lead this big in 2 years.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

I get the feeling McAuliffe is the Virginian she'd want for VP if she could appoint someone after the election, but she would never pick him in a close race. But maybe she'd feel safe enough picking him if she has a lead this big in 2 years.

I'd say Kaine.  They'd both be good for Hillary, but Kaine would be better in that there would not be any sudden surprises as to his business dealings.  Warner has been extremely successful in private business, but any businessman these days has something that can be blown out of proportion in a political campaign.  If he ever had to lay off a number of employees, he'll be called a job killer, and he'll have to take a ridiculous amount of time to defend himself against that.  It's preposterous, but that's the world we live in today.

[ShadowRocket]

The only real advantage that Warner has over Kaine is that he probably locks down VA. Which may be neccessary if Hillary is polling badly there.

But I think Kaine is more likely to be picked,

[Maxwell]

This is night and day. Warner is a much stronger pick.