Politics|Tim Kaine Seems Likely for Hillary Clinton"s No. 2, but Liberals Balk

Sen. Tim Kaine Seen as Hillary Clinton"s VP Pick
Photo Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia during a news conference in Washington in February 2015. Credit J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

Democrats close to Hillary Clintons presidential campaign signaled strongly Thursday that she would choose Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her running mate, rounding out the ticket with a popular politician from a battleground state.

Both former President Bill Clinton and the White House have expressed their support for Mr. Kaine, but aides cautioned that Mrs. Clinton had not yet made a final decision and that other candidates were still under consideration.

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Mrs. Clinton is widely expected to announce her choice in an email to supporters while on a campaign swing in Florida on Friday afternoon, an attempt to regain momentum the day after her Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, accepted his partys nomination in Cleveland. With Mr. Kaine emerging as a clear favorite, one group already expressed disappointment at the prospect of the former governor of Virginia joining the ticket: liberals.

Many of the groups that backed Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in his Democratic contest against Mrs. Clinton had hoped she would extend an olive branch to the liberal wing of the party and choose a vice-presidential candidate whose stances on Wall Street and global trade deals closely aligned with those of Mr. Sanders.

But with the Democratic National Convention beginning in Philadelphia on Monday, the prospects have dimmed for the two liberal senators who were being considered, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. That has led to more liberal scrutiny of Mr. Kaines record.

Mrs. Clintons campaign has kept a tight lid on its search for a vice-presidential candidate. A spokeswoman for the campaign declined to comment. An aide to Ms. Warren planned to meet with Mrs. Clintons campaign manager, Robby Mook, on Thursday afternoon to discuss how they could work together, which was interpreted by some people with knowledge of the process as a sign that Mrs. Clinton had settled on a choice.

Liberals say they are concerned about Mr. Kaines positions on global trade deals and Wall Street regulation. He has been an outspoken advocate of free trade and has defended the North American Free Trade Agreement, which many voters in Rust Belt states blame for the loss of manufacturing jobs to Mexico. He voted in support of fast track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade pact that President Obama has championed.

Two others under consideration, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez, also supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But Mr. Perez, who is popular among labor unions, has criticized Nafta, which Mr. Trump has called a disaster. After praising the Trans-Pacific Partnership as secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton has recently said as a candidate, I dont believe its going to meet the high bar Ive set on protecting American workers, the environment and other issues.

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About 60 percent of voters said trade with other countries caused job losses in the United States, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Mr. Trump has a slight edge over Mrs. Clinton on the question of who voters consider better poised to tackle the trade issue.

Putting Mr. Kaine on the ticket could be disastrous for our efforts to defeat Donald Trump in the fall because of his support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America, a liberal political action committee.

Mr. Kaine, the son of a welder who owned a small metalworking shop in a Kansas City suburb, could help Mrs. Clinton attract white male voters and independents. Those voters may prove more critical to her chances in November than the young liberal voters who backed Mr. Sanders in the primaries.

As governor of Virginia, Mr. Kaine appealed to both Democrats in urban pockets and independents in rural areas, and established a reputation as a pragmatic consensus builder. Hed appeal to people in the Midwest because thats his roots, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. And Mr. Tobias said Virginians across political lines considered him a thoroughly decent and honest person.

Mr. Sanders endorsed Mrs. Clinton this month, declaring she is far and away the best candidate. And while polls suggest that most of his supporters plan to vote for her in November, some surveys suggest that only a small fraction of them will do so enthusiastically and that Mrs. Clinton remains unpopular with independents.

Hillary Clintons vice-presidential pick will be seen by many as a proxy for how she will govern boldly, or cautiously? said Stephanie Taylor, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. She referred to the army of small-dollar donors who fueled Mr. Sanderss candidacy, adding, The wrong pick could deflate energy among potential donors and volunteers, hurting Democratic efforts to win the White House.

No running mate can please every demographic and constituency. Senator Cory Booker, also in the running for the No. 2 spot, supported Gov. Chris Christies push in New Jersey to expand charter schools and implement merit-based pay for teachers. Those positions made him deeply unpopular among the teachers unions who have been among Mrs. Clintons most loyal supporters.

On Thursday, Mr. Booker, speaking from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, defended Mrs. Clinton and derided Mr. Trump as someone who has been so indiscriminate with his demeaning and degrading language. Asked about the prospect of Mr. Kaine on the Democratic ticket, Mr. Booker praised his Senate colleague. Tim Kaine is one of the most honorable people Ive met in all of politics.

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/us/politics/tim-kaine-hillary-clinton-vice-president.html