They could have picked Brown which would have locked up Ohio, but they were
afraid of losing the Senate seat.
This is a dangerous choice in the rust belt.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2016 9:58 AM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Hillary Clinton Picks Virginia Senator Tim Kaine
for VP, Frustrating Sanders Delegates
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Hillary Clinton Picks Virginia Senator Tim Kaine for VP, Frustrating
Sanders Delegates
________________________________________
Hillary Clinton Picks Virginia Senator Tim Kaine for VP, Frustrating Sanders
Delegates
By Steven Rosenfeld [1] / AlterNet [2]
July 22, 2016
Hillary Clinton has picked Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate, a
centrist from a swing state who speaks Spanish, worked with Central American
missionaries when he was in his 20s, and slowly made his way up the
political ladder to the U.S. Senate where he is a foreign affairs expert.
The vice presidential choice ends weeks of speculation that Clinton might
choose a progressive like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, or Sen. Sherrod
Brown, D-OH, to appeal to the more then 40 percent of primary voters who
backed Bernie Sanders.
Her choice was quickly criticized by Sanders delegates whose polling of
their delegation last week found wide dissatisfaction with with Kaine's
pro-corporate record. Earlier this week, Kaine raised their ire when it was
disclosed in the Huffington Post that he wrote [3] to federal regulators
urging them to go easy on several proposed banking regulations.
As Virginia's governor, the Sanders delegates noted that Kaine had supported
restrictions on abortion-although he has had a 100 percent pro-choice voting
record in the Senate, according to an endorsement issued Friday by NARAL,
the National Abortion Rights Action League. But Sanders delegates also said
that Kaine defended Virginia's anti-union "right-to-work" law and supports
corporate trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership.
"The numbers about Sen. Kaine from the Bernie Delegates Network survey of
Sanders delegates nationwide - less than 3 percent 'Acceptable' and 88.5
percent 'Unacceptable' - foreshadow that picking Kaine for the VP slot will
set in motion a very contentious national convention," Norman Solomon,
coordinator of the national network and a Sanders delegate, said in a press
release. "Selections have consequences. Secretary Clinton must know that her
choice of Kaine can only inflame rather than soothe her relations with the
huge constituency of Bernie supporters. They will understand what it means
when their efforts to challenge oligarchy have been met by Clinton's
selection of a loyal servant of oligarchy. If Clinton has reached out to
Bernie supporters, it appears that she has done so to stick triangulating
thumbs in their eyes."
"When the pomp and circumstance of the convention is over, millions of
Bernie's supporters could well be left wondering why their suggested running
mates were not considered," Donna Smith, executive director of Progressive
Democrats of America, said in that release. "The party platform and the
running-mate selection were the two tangible ways for the Clinton camp to
show they truly understood and embraced the commitment to the progressive
agenda that Senator Sanders advanced during the primary season. It seems all
the efforts to portray a desire for unity may have been little more than lip
service. Bernie delegates are serious, thoughtful, and in many cases voters
who are new to the party. Vice-presidential candidate Kaine does not inspire
those many millions of energetic voters to stay so deeply engaged and to
work for a Clinton-Kaine ticket."
In her announcement e-mail to supporters, however, Clinton described Kaine a
progressive who grew up steeped in church-based social justice movements.
"I'm thrilled to share this news: I've chosen Tim Kaine as my running mate,"
she wrote Friday evening. "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," she
said. "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," she continued. "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."
According to his Wikipedia biography, Kaine took a break from law school "to
work with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Honduras. Kaine worked in Honduras
for nine months from 1980 to 1981, helping Jesuit missionaries who ran a
Catholic school in El Progreso. Kaine is fluent in Spanish as a result of
his year in Honduras."
Today, he is the junior Senator from Virginia, elected in 2012. Prior to
that, he served as the state's governor from 2006 to 2010. He was considered
a finalist for a running mate in Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign,
but instead became the 51st Chairman of the Democratic National Committee,
serving from 2009 to 2011.
The New York Times reported several days ago that former President Bill
Clinton was urging Hillary Clinton to choose Kaine. At first glance, the
choice appears to neutralize Donald Trump's choice of Indiana Gov. Mike
Pence, a far right Christian conservative, by appealing to a range of
Christian voters, both white and non-white.
However, other progessives were quick to criticize Kaine's selection as
well.
"As we saw in Donald Trump's speech last night, Republicans will run hard
against Democrats on trade this year," said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder,
Progressive Change Campaign Committee. "Unfortunately, since Tim Kaine voted
to fast track the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Republicans now have a new
opening to attack Democrats on this economic populist issue."
"The mood of the country is a populist one," she said. "The center of
gravity in the Democratic Party has shifted in a bold, populist, progressive
direction -- regardless of who is selected by Hillary Clinton as Vice
President."
Kaine will join Clinton on the campaign trail in Florida as they make their
way to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia that starts on
Monday.
Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet, including
America's retirement crisis, democracy and voting rights, and campaigns and
elections. He is the author of "Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting"
(AlterNet Books, 2008).
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________________________________________
Source URL:
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-tim-kaine-vp-frustrating-sanders-delegates
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/steven-rosenfeld
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tim-kaine-clinton-vp_us_578fc8e3e4b0bddd
c4d2c86c
[4] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Hillary Clinton Picks
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine for VP, Frustrating Sanders Delegates
[5] http://www.alternet.org/
[6] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Hillary Clinton Picks Virginia Senator Tim Kaine for VP, Frustrating
Sanders Delegates
Hillary Clinton Picks Virginia Senator Tim Kaine for VP, Frustrating Sanders
Delegates
By Steven Rosenfeld [1] / AlterNet [2]
July 22, 2016
AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Google+More
AddThis Share optionsShare to Email
Hillary Clinton has picked Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate, a
centrist from a swing state who speaks Spanish, worked with Central American
missionaries when he was in his 20s, and slowly made his way up the
political ladder to the U.S. Senate where he is a foreign affairs expert.
The vice presidential choice ends weeks of speculation that Clinton might
choose a progressive like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, or Sen. Sherrod
Brown, D-OH, to appeal to the more then 40 percent of primary voters who
backed Bernie Sanders.
Her choice was quickly criticized by Sanders delegates whose polling of
their delegation last week found wide dissatisfaction with with Kaine's
pro-corporate record. Earlier this week, Kaine raised their ire when it was
disclosed in the Huffington Post that he wrote [3] to federal regulators
urging them to go easy on several proposed banking regulations.
As Virginia's governor, the Sanders delegates noted that Kaine had supported
restrictions on abortion-although he has had a 100 percent pro-choice voting
record in the Senate, according to an endorsement issued Friday by NARAL,
the National Abortion Rights Action League. But Sanders delegates also said
that Kaine defended Virginia's anti-union "right-to-work" law and supports
corporate trade deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership.
"The numbers about Sen. Kaine from the Bernie Delegates Network survey of
Sanders delegates nationwide - less than 3 percent 'Acceptable' and 88.5
percent 'Unacceptable' - foreshadow that picking Kaine for the VP slot will
set in motion a very contentious national convention," Norman Solomon,
coordinator of the national network and a Sanders delegate, said in a press
release. "Selections have consequences. Secretary Clinton must know that her
choice of Kaine can only inflame rather than soothe her relations with the
huge constituency of Bernie supporters. They will understand what it means
when their efforts to challenge oligarchy have been met by Clinton's
selection of a loyal servant of oligarchy. If Clinton has reached out to
Bernie supporters, it appears that she has done so to stick triangulating
thumbs in their eyes."
"When the pomp and circumstance of the convention is over, millions of
Bernie's supporters could well be left wondering why their suggested running
mates were not considered," Donna Smith, executive director of Progressive
Democrats of America, said in that release. "The party platform and the
running-mate selection were the two tangible ways for the Clinton camp to
show they truly understood and embraced the commitment to the progressive
agenda that Senator Sanders advanced during the primary season. It seems all
the efforts to portray a desire for unity may have been little more than lip
service. Bernie delegates are serious, thoughtful, and in many cases voters
who are new to the party. Vice-presidential candidate Kaine does not inspire
those many millions of energetic voters to stay so deeply engaged and to
work for a Clinton-Kaine ticket."
In her announcement e-mail to supporters, however, Clinton described Kaine a
progressive who grew up steeped in church-based social justice movements.
"I'm thrilled to share this news: I've chosen Tim Kaine as my running mate,"
she wrote Friday evening. "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," she
said. "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," she continued. "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."
According to his Wikipedia biography, Kaine took a break from law school "to
work with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Honduras. Kaine worked in Honduras
for nine months from 1980 to 1981, helping Jesuit missionaries who ran a
Catholic school in El Progreso. Kaine is fluent in Spanish as a result of
his year in Honduras."
Today, he is the junior Senator from Virginia, elected in 2012. Prior to
that, he served as the state's governor from 2006 to 2010. He was considered
a finalist for a running mate in Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign,
but instead became the 51st Chairman of the Democratic National Committee,
serving from 2009 to 2011.
The New York Times reported several days ago that former President Bill
Clinton was urging Hillary Clinton to choose Kaine. At first glance, the
choice appears to neutralize Donald Trump's choice of Indiana Gov. Mike
Pence, a far right Christian conservative, by appealing to a range of
Christian voters, both white and non-white.
However, other progessives were quick to criticize Kaine's selection as
well.
"As we saw in Donald Trump's speech last night, Republicans will run hard
against Democrats on trade this year," said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder,
Progressive Change Campaign Committee. "Unfortunately, since Tim Kaine voted
to fast track the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Republicans now have a new
opening to attack Democrats on this economic populist issue."
"The mood of the country is a populist one," she said. "The center of
gravity in the Democratic Party has shifted in a bold, populist, progressive
direction -- regardless of who is selected by Hillary Clinton as Vice
President."
Kaine will join Clinton on the campaign trail in Florida as they make their
way to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia that starts on
Monday.
Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet, including
America's retirement crisis, democracy and voting rights, and campaigns and
elections. He is the author of "Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting"
(AlterNet Books, 2008).
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [4]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[5]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/hillary-clinton-picks-virginia-senator
-tim-kaine-vp-frustrating-sanders-delegates
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/steven-rosenfeld
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tim-kaine-clinton-vp_us_578fc8e3e4b0bddd
c4d2c86c
[4] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Hillary Clinton Picks
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine for VP, Frustrating Sanders Delegates
[5] http://www.alternet.org/
[6] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
