Replies to post #110180 on Politics and Money

[PegnVA]

AZ, regarding Tim Kaine and abortion - he makes no secret that he personally is against abortion but he also knows he is sworn to uphold the law, even a law/s he doesn't agree with. We saw the same thing in VA with the death penalty - he is personally against it, but VA law says it's o.k. and when he couldn't find a reason not to enforce the death penalty, a reason the courts would accept, he would signed off because it's the law in VA.
Regarding trade, good for anyone who thinks they know where HRC stands on the TPP Agreement - she's been on both sides of the issue. Tim Kaine is at least forthright with his support for trade deals.

"I don't want a third Bill Clinton term" - I agree, but anyone who voted for Hillary Clinton HAD to know they were voting for a co-presidency.

I like Tim Kaine; I especially like his stand on gun control - half-way through his term as gov, he had to deal with the shootings at V-TECH by a deranged person and it made a lasting impression on him. The NRA gives Kaine an "F" grade and has campaigned against him every time he ran for office but as Kaine points out, he won every time.

Is Tim Kaine everything progressive Dems want? Probably not. Will Tim Kaine help HRC win in Nov? Yes, I believe he will - she needs a running mate who can soften her image, and help off-set the hateful rhetoric we heard all last week from the Repubs - TK can do that. Watching the Repub's convention last week I realized what it's like to watch FOX - doom and gloom night after night after night - no wonder FOX viewers are cranky, fearful people!

[dbleagl]

at a time when I'm searching for reasons to like this pick I think my cousin makes some good points......again FWIW....

Cory Knobel
18 hrs · Long Beach, CA ·

Tim Kaine as VP pick...is one of the most strategically smart choices Hillary Clinton could have made with respect to Elizabeth Warren. People in my network are posting a lot of "Kaine isn't exciting. Warren would have impassioned me." sentiments. Fair enough, but I think there's a larger, longer-term set of issues at play here. The VP pick may not excite or entertain (and I'd suggest that the fact that we expect our candidates to fulfill our insatiable need for entertainment bends toward the pathological), but the job of a VP isn't particularly exciting.

The US Constitution itself limits the powers of the VP to (1) assuming the role of president, should the president be rendered unable to serve, and (2) presiding over the Senate, casting a deciding vote in the event of a tie. That's it. That's all. And while Vice Presidents have taken on other responsibilities at the behest of the President, the office has a history of working in the background.

That would be an extreme waste of Elizabeth Warren's visibility, potential, strength, and notably, her economic acumen.

Not being chosen as VP leaves Warren available for something far more powerful - Secretary of the Treasury. You want progressive transformation to the way Wall Street is regulated? Warren has the potential to wield the power of the Treasury in ways unseen in contemporary times. She's a fierce economic mind and financial policy genius with an advocacy streak cut from the same cloth as Alexander Hamilton.

Hillary Clinton, for whatever virtues or vices we want to highlight, has shown herself to be a long-term strategist with pieces on the board everywhere. Warren in a transformative financial and policy role potentially sets her up to be a stronger Presidential candidate in the future than letting her languish offstage as VP for four or eight years.

Now it's up to Clinton to pick her cabinet smartly if elected. I suspect several of the people vetted for VP that excited people - Warren, Booker, Perez, Castro - may be named to a new cabinet in roles that allow them to shine far brighter than a term or two as VP would.