Can Tim Kaine win a Democratic presidential nomination in the future?

[Suburbia]

With all the rumblings of potential Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.)'s votes and views on banks and trade deals, can Virginia Senator Tim Kaine ever win the Democratic presidential nomination in the future, or is he too "conservative, moderate, and white"?


http://thehill.com/homenews/news/288731-liberals-press-clinton-not-to-pick-kaine-for-vp

[Blue3]

No, not unless he radically changes.

The next nominee will almost certainly be closer to Bernie Sanders ideologically than Hillary Clinton. And I say this as a Clinton supporter.

[Spark]

Possibly

[Kingpoleon]

Sure. If Florida becomes an early state, he could rely on it and South Carolina supporting a Southern firewall.

[DS0816]

No.

(Thank goodness!)

[Suburbia]

No.

(Thank goodness!)

Why? Because he's a white male?

[Sir Mohamed]

Why not? He has experience and leadership qualities. If President Clinton is still popular by the end of her term(s) and she backs him, could really happen.

[WVdemocrat]

No.

(Thank goodness!)

Why? Because he's a white male?

Am I allowed to say you're annoying? You're annoying af man. I'm sorry you can't have a soothing centrist aryan midwesterner who is socially liberal and fiscally right-wing in the white house. Like holy balls we're not on The West Wing.

And enough with the race politics! Can be there be such a thing as a "soothing midwesterner" who is a minority? I'm sorry but this stuff is constant with you. I would love to know if you identify as R D or I

[Ljube]

Of course not.

[Del Tachi]

Yes, very likely.

As the GOP barrels towards Trumpism, moderate Democrats are going to have a much easier time being elected.  Tim Kaine is the perfect kind of Democrat to capture Republican neocon voters and make then Democratic for a generation

[Blue3]

I've already become a little more pro-Kaine. He might be able to pull it off in 2024, if he's really popular like Joe Biden, and makes peace with the progressives.

[Del Tachi]

If Hillary Clinton forwent a 2nd term in 2020, we could get Kaine from 2021 to 2029 and 20 years of Democratic rule

[Illiniwek]

The only way I see Kaine running is if Hillary decides not to run in 2020, or I guess if she should not be president for some reason in 2020. He's a great guy, will be a good VP, but he is not presidential campaign material and there will be new blood running the party at that point.

[RINO Tom]

Yes, very likely.

As the GOP barrels towards Trumpism, moderate Democrats are going to have a much easier time being elected.  Tim Kaine is the perfect kind of Democrat to capture Republican neocon voters and make then Democratic for a generation

Highly doubtful.  Did you even watch the convention last night?  GOP being more Trump-like =/= Democrats becoming more GOP-like.

[RaphaelDLG]

He could totally "re-invent" himself ideologically; I don't think that's an insurmountable hurdle.

But being f****** boring is.

[Del Tachi]

Yes, very likely.

As the GOP barrels towards Trumpism, moderate Democrats are going to have a much easier time being elected.  Tim Kaine is the perfect kind of Democrat to capture Republican neocon voters and make then Democratic for a generation

Highly doubtful.  Did you even watch the convention last night?  GOP being more Trump-like =/= Democrats becoming more GOP-like.

There's simply no way that the Democratic Party of 1980 would stand for anything like TPP.

And now we have Terry McAuliffe saying Clinton will do a 180 on the issue if she's elected

En vogue positions on race, gender and religion a leftist does not make

[RINO Tom]

Yes, very likely.

As the GOP barrels towards Trumpism, moderate Democrats are going to have a much easier time being elected.  Tim Kaine is the perfect kind of Democrat to capture Republican neocon voters and make then Democratic for a generation

Highly doubtful.  Did you even watch the convention last night?  GOP being more Trump-like =/= Democrats becoming more GOP-like.

There's simply no way that the Democratic Party of 1980 would stand for anything like TPP.

And now we have Terry McAuliffe saying Clinton will do a 180 on the issue if she's elected

En vogue positions on race, gender and religion a leftist does not make

The Democratic Party of 2016 ISN'T STANDING FOR TPP.  Are you not aware of the Congressional vote breakdown by party?  It enjoyed heavy Republican support and heavy Democratic opposition.  This is a Republican bill that happens to have support from the current Democratic President.  The current nominee had to come out strongly against it to survive her primary.  Were you not watching when Bernie Sanders proclaimed that a Clinton Presidency would squash the TPP to thunderous applause from the Democratic Convention hall?  Have you not seen the exit polls showing most Democratic electorates also opposing free trade (everyone is making a big deal of Republicans being noticeably less in favor of trade in the last 10 years, but even if we completely ignore the high probability that this has to do with a Democratic President, the fact is the whole country has moved in a more protectionist direction)?

The Democrats aren't becoming more pro-trade, and if anything they're becoming less supportive of it.  Of the four people on the two major party tickets, only one openly supports free trade, and he's the Republican VP pick.

[Vosem]

If popular figures from the Obama and Clinton Administrations really back him heavily? Of course.

[RaphaelDLG]

If popular figures from the Obama and Clinton Administrations really back him heavily? Of course.

That's a pretty good point.

[Human]

No, he's a good guy, but he's too boring and uninspiring.

[Mr. Morden]

Here's a related question: For the foreseeable future will the only viable contenders for the Democratic nomination for president be either 1) progressive crusaders like Sherrod Brown, or 2) establishment figures who fill the right demographic niche, like Booker or Gillibrand?  That is, an "establishment" figure has a shot at the nomination if he/she is a woman or racial minority, but not if he's a white man?  Folks like Kaine and O'Malley are out of luck, because any "establishment" white man is "boring"?

[Mister Mets]

Can he? Of course.

Is he the guaranteed frontrunner? Probably not.

There are three major scenarios.

If Hillary wins reelection, Democrats will have held the White House for four straight terms. He'll be very well-positioned in terms of name recognition and connections. While there are some major milestones left, none is as significant as first African American President, or first female President, so the identity politics argument won't be as bad.

If Hillary loses in 2020, he'll have some advantages in name recognition and connections, but he'll be tied to a losing campaign, and he'll compete in the primary with a new generation of leaders who will have had more recent accomplishments.

If Hillary loses in 2016, he'll be part of the losing ticket, and the milestone of first female President will remain quite powerful, providing an advantage to Elizabeth Warren, Kristen Gilibrand, or Kamala Harris, all of whom would have more appeal to the base.

[Figueira]

Yes, I don't see why so many people are voting No. Also he's not that conservative.

He probably won't though.

[Orser67]

Imo, he's clearly the favorite in the next open primary. He's roughly in the middle of the party ideologically, and would probably have the strong backing of ex-Obamaites and ex-Clintonites as well as some former Senate colleagues.

I also really don't think that being in favor of TPP will be a scarlet letter for Dems going forward. I think trade deals are likely dead for the foreseeable future, which will make the issue less important.

Being white and old is a disadvantage, but after reading up on his time as Mayor of Richmond, I think he has a very strong talent for connecting with African-Americans.

[OwlRhetoric]

Impossible to say at this point. I think he'd try to run assuming eight years of Hillary don't conclude with high unfavorables.