Clinton picks Kaine for veep

[Suburbia]

Some minorities on Twitter are vexed because he's a "bland white male". They want a African American or a Latino. I don't know if Americans care or not. We had President Obama in 2008 and 2012.

Well, we know you to be the voice of minorities

I don't have a problem with anyone.

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

The campaign's internal polling for Virginia must have been dire.

Trump's internal polling for Indiana must have been dire. Obama's internal polling for Delaware must have been dire. Bush's internal polling for Wyoming must have been dire.

Given everything you know about Hillary, her convictions, her record and her personality: would she really have chosen a white male centrist from the South as her running mate unless she absolutely had to?

[ag]

The best thing about Kaine is that he supports TPP.

That's good. Hopefully we can officially establish that Democrat = free trade and Republican = protectionism once and for all.

Would be great!

[Gass3268]

No one cares about the TPP.

I listen to a popular, progressive, and union friendly talk radio show in the Madison, WI area (with a big enough signal to go into Northern Illinois and Eastern Iowa) and anti-TPP and anti-free trade is the main issue on almost every show. The issue resonates with people.

[ag]

The campaign's internal polling for Virginia must have been dire.

Trump's internal polling for Indiana must have been dire. Obama's internal polling for Delaware must have been dire. Bush's internal polling for Wyoming must have been dire.

Given everything you know about Hillary, her convictions, her record and her personality: would she really have chosen an old white male centrist from the South as her running mate unless she absolutely had to?

Yes, of course. It would seem to be an obvious preference for her. Or are you talking about some other Hillary?

BTW, years ago she has already chosen a white southerner as her running mate, and has stuck to that choice despite everything.

[Gass3268]

The best thing about Kaine is that he supports TPP.

That's good. Hopefully we can officially establish that Democrat = free trade and Republican = protectionism once and for all.

Would be great!

Disgusting. You can say goodbye to the Midwest and union support if that's the case.

[ag]

No one cares about the TPP.

I listen to a popular, progressive, and union friendly talk radio show in the Madison, WI area (with a big enough signal to go into Northern Illinois and Eastern Iowa) and anti-TPP and anti-free trade is the main issue on almost every show. The issue resonates with people.

People it resonates with should vote Trump.

[Gass3268]

No one cares about the TPP.

I listen to a popular, progressive, and union friendly talk radio show in the Madison, WI area (with a big enough signal to go into Northern Illinois and Eastern Iowa) and anti-TPP and anti-free trade is the main issue on almost every show. The issue resonates with people.

People it resonates with should vote Trump.

Elizabeth Warren should vote for Trump? Bernie Sanders should vote for Trump? Russ Feingold should vote for Trump? There is nothing Progressive about giving over power to corporations, which is what the TPP would do.

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

No one cares about the TPP.

I listen to a popular, progressive, and union friendly talk radio show in the Madison, WI area (with a big enough signal to go into Northern Illinois and Eastern Iowa) and anti-TPP and anti-free trade is the main issue on almost every show. The issue resonates with people.

People it resonates with should vote Trump.

I couldn't agree more, ag.

[ag]

No one cares about the TPP.

I listen to a popular, progressive, and union friendly talk radio show in the Madison, WI area (with a big enough signal to go into Northern Illinois and Eastern Iowa) and anti-TPP and anti-free trade is the main issue on almost every show. The issue resonates with people.

People it resonates with should vote Trump.

Elizabeth Warren should vote for Trump? Bernie Sanders should vote for Trump? Russ Feingold should vote for Trump? There is nothing Progressive about giving over power to corporations, which is what the TPP would do opposition to free trade does.

Corrected.

[ag]

No one cares about the TPP.

I listen to a popular, progressive, and union friendly talk radio show in the Madison, WI area (with a big enough signal to go into Northern Illinois and Eastern Iowa) and anti-TPP and anti-free trade is the main issue on almost every show. The issue resonates with people.

People it resonates with should vote Trump.

I couldn't agree more, ag.

Yeah, I really want all horrible people to concentrate in one party I could comfortably hate then.

[KingSweden]

MSNBC just reported that Kaine has made it clear that he will now oppose TPP as part of the Clinton ticket.

Oh well. If this is what it takes to get the loud and influential anti-free trade wing of the party onboard, so be it. Politicians are really bad at selling the benefits of these agreements and an even worse job mitigating their admittedly unfortunate side effects

[Gass3268]

No one cares about the TPP.

I listen to a popular, progressive, and union friendly talk radio show in the Madison, WI area (with a big enough signal to go into Northern Illinois and Eastern Iowa) and anti-TPP and anti-free trade is the main issue on almost every show. The issue resonates with people.

People it resonates with should vote Trump.

Elizabeth Warren should vote for Trump? Bernie Sanders should vote for Trump? Russ Feingold should vote for Trump? There is nothing Progressive about giving over power to corporations, which is what the TPP would do opposition to free trade does.

Corrected.

Explain?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

MSNBC just reported that Kaine has made it clear that he will now oppose TPP as part of the Clinton ticket.

Excellent.

[RI]

So, with a Catholic VP candidate on the Dem ticket and the Pope not being very enthusiastic about Trump, it would be interesting to see how excited conservative Catholics will be about the Republican nominee

Conservative Catholics aren't going to vote for Hillary, period.

Trump and Hillary are both abominations to them, I would imagine.  But if they were to weigh between whether Mike Pence or Tim Kaine is a better representative for them, whom do you think they would pick? 

Kaine and Pence are both heretics but only one supports genocide.

[ag]

So, with a Catholic VP candidate on the Dem ticket and the Pope not being very enthusiastic about Trump, it would be interesting to see how excited conservative Catholics will be about the Republican nominee

Conservative Catholics aren't going to vote for Hillary, period.

Trump and Hillary are both abominations to them, I would imagine.  But if they were to weigh between whether Mike Pence or Tim Kaine is a better representative for them, whom do you think they would pick? 

Kaine and Pence are both heretics...

You might be disagreeing with the Pope here.

[Maxwell]

As I said in the other thread, this is a terrible pick and I don't know how I'm going to vote this November now.

Really? I mean, I'm sort of apathetic about him, but there's no denying he's about as progressive a politician that has come out of the state of Virginia (a few scattering congressmen and one Lieutenant Governor aside).

[ag]

No one cares about the TPP.

I listen to a popular, progressive, and union friendly talk radio show in the Madison, WI area (with a big enough signal to go into Northern Illinois and Eastern Iowa) and anti-TPP and anti-free trade is the main issue on almost every show. The issue resonates with people.

People it resonates with should vote Trump.

Elizabeth Warren should vote for Trump? Bernie Sanders should vote for Trump? Russ Feingold should vote for Trump? There is nothing Progressive about giving over power to corporations, which is what the TPP would do opposition to free trade does.

Corrected.

Explain?

Very easy. Free trade is what creates competition. Lack of competition is creating superprofits, which go to corporations (it also, of course, reduces output, hurting consumers further, but that is a separate matter). By opposing trade you play into the hands of monopoly owners, pure and simple.

[Gass3268]

MSNBC just reported that Kaine has made it clear that he will now oppose TPP as part of the Clinton ticket.

Oh well. If this is what it takes to get the loud and influential anti-free trade wing of the party onboard, so be it. Politicians are really bad at selling the benefits of these agreements and an even worse job mitigating their admittedly unfortunate side effects

Are there benefits? Other than cheeper goods being imported from overseas, where is the benefit? I'm all in favor of reducing barriers with countries with similar economies (I would have been cool with a Canada only NAFTA or deals Western Europe/Japan, etc), but that's not why these deals are signed.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Free trade being, in general, a good thing does not mean that every given free trade agreement is automatically good or that all people of good will are somehow morally bound to support all of them, and the fact that not every free trade agreement is automatically good and all people of good will are not somehow morally bound to support all of them does not mean that free trade is not, in general, a good thing. I'm amazed that this is apparently such an unpopular position here.

[Vega]

If Clinton was trying to get attention and make news, when should she have announced her pick? Before the convention or something?

[Gass3268]

No one cares about the TPP.

I listen to a popular, progressive, and union friendly talk radio show in the Madison, WI area (with a big enough signal to go into Northern Illinois and Eastern Iowa) and anti-TPP and anti-free trade is the main issue on almost every show. The issue resonates with people.

People it resonates with should vote Trump.

Elizabeth Warren should vote for Trump? Bernie Sanders should vote for Trump? Russ Feingold should vote for Trump? There is nothing Progressive about giving over power to corporations, which is what the TPP would do opposition to free trade does.

Corrected.

Explain?

Very easy. Free trade is what creates competition. Lack of competition is creating superprofits, which go to corporations (it also, of course, reduces output, hurting consumers further, but that is a separate matter). By opposing trade you play into the hands of monopoly owners, pure and simple.

Yet it allows jobs to easily move out of the country. Also the TPP explicitly gives corporations the same rights and powers as actual nations. Luckily as of right now Hillary opposes the TPP.

[Blue3]

I'm not enthusiastic about Kaine, he'll need to be sold to me. His work as a missionary and being a civil rights lawyer shows his selfless character, and speaking fluent Spanish will be a plus. He does seem like an optimistic and nice guy, but I'm hoping there's something more to him.

 Still, it will be tough to beat Biden as VP, no matter what. Maybe I'm just spoiled by Joe

 Here's what I just got by email:




I'm thrilled to share this news: I've chosen Tim Kaine as my running mate.

 Tim is a lifelong fighter for progressive causes and one of the most qualified vice presidential candidates in our nation's history.

 But his credentials alone aren't why I asked him to run alongside me.

 Like me, Tim grew up in the Midwest. During law school, he too took an unconventional path -- he took time off and went to Honduras to work with missionaries, practicing both his faith and his Spanish.

 When he returned to the states and graduated from Harvard Law, he could have done anything. But instead of going to some big corporate firm, he chose to fight housing discrimination as a civil rights lawyer in Richmond. He and his wife joined a church, built a home centered around their faith, and raised three beautiful children. Then, after 17 years of practicing law, Tim ran for city council -- and won.

 Tim says his experience on city council taught him everything he knows about politics. To the people in Richmond, an underfunded school wasn't a Democratic or Republican problem. It was simply a problem that needed fixing, and his constituents were counting on him to solve it. So Tim would do it. He'd roll up his sleeves and get the job done, no matter what.

 He’s a man of relentless optimism who believes no problem is unsolvable if you're willing to put in the work. That commitment to delivering results has stayed with him throughout his decades-long career as a public servant. So I could give you a laundry list of things he went on to accomplish -- as mayor of Richmond, governor of Virginia, and in the United States Senate.

 But this is what’s important: Tim has never taken a job for the glory or the title. He's the same person whether the cameras are on or off. He's sincerely motivated by the belief that you can make a difference in people's lives through public service.

 That quality comes through in every interaction. To know Tim is to love him. When I was talking to people about this decision, I couldn't find anyone -- Democrat or Republican -- who had a bad thing to say about him. From his staff over the last 20 years to his colleagues in the Senate, Tim's beloved.

 He is a genuinely nice person, but Tim is no one's punching bag. He will fight tooth and nail for American families, and he'll be a dogged fighter in our campaign against Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

 Dillon, I want you to know that I didn’t make this decision lightly.

 I’ve had the privilege of seeing two presidents and two vice presidents up close. I want a vice president who can be my partner in bringing this country together. I want someone who will be able to give me their best advice, look me in the eye, and tell me they disagree with me when they do.

 But what matters most is a simple test that’s not so simple to meet: whether the person could step in at a moment’s notice and serve as president.

 I have no doubt that Tim can do the job.

 I want him by my side on the trail and in the White House.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

This ticket just got a little more palatable should I have to swallow the bitter pill of voting Democrat in the fall (only will happen if Trump is polling competitively in Illinois, which is not likely).

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

That reads like Clinton is actually taking the idea of Kaine's religiosity as a selling point seriously, which has interesting implications for the sort of coalition she's trying to attract.