Clinton/Kaine

Hillary Clinton,Tim KaineGood, Bad or Indifferent? Those are usually the only choices for evaluating a nominee’s VP pick. I’m indifferent about Kaine, don’t see much gained or lost. As a career politician in Virginia his pull in the state might help win a key battleground. Couldn’t hurt. If, as Clinton says, she was predominately making a governing choice, without concern for who helps in the election, perhaps that’s what she got.

Nate Silver: Kaine Wouldn’t Do Much To Help Clinton Win The Election

Clinton online ad released with the announcement

Share
Avatar photo

Author: craigcrawford

Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.

110 thoughts on “Clinton/Kaine”

  2. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

    Just what we need: another humdrum white guy. Apparently there are no qualified Latinos, Latinas, other People of Color or any other woman fit to be #2. Missed opportunity; plays into “whites only” fit to govern.

  5. Well, I think Kaine will make Pence look like a know little, done little in the vp debate. And on mainstream social issues he’ll eat Pence for lunch.

    I figure it’s a +.5 choice. Not a blockbuster, but it won’t alienate any of the swing voters.

  6. Reading the blogs…someone commented that she could pick a potted plant and win.  She picked a potted plant.  As one who lives in the western US, I am disappointed.  But, the national election is over by the time our polls close here…it really is about the US east of the Mississippi.  No matter, she has my vote and TK can jump into her heels if anything happens.

  7. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m slightly disappointed by this pick.  But…I agree with pogo.  The VP debate will be an assholic tea partier vs a responsible adult.

  9. I will believe debates when they actually happen.  Trump won’t cough up his tax returns because of what they would reveal about his actual finances.  Why would he attempt a debate against one of the best minds and resume’s in government today?

    Pence vs. Kaine?  Could happen.  The knee jerk far right whatsis against the competent, brilliant moderate blah.

    Wonkette on Pence

     

  11. Jamie,

    Hillary will embarrass drumpf on the tax return issue.  Kaine will make Pence look like a lightweight IMHO. Exciting?  No.  Winning? God I hope so.

     

  12. At the very least, Pence voted for the war in Iraq.  That freed Hillary to pick someone she wants and trusts…obviously Kaine.

  13. Jamie,

    Not saying he isn’t a fine man. Could be a friggin’ saint. Just disappointing that a truly historic moment – such as nominating the first woman with an actual chance to win –  is back tracked with the need for having a white man as a safety net. Imagine if they presented a truly inspired inclusive ticket, especially in comparison to their opponents….

     

  14. Republicans: I *HATE* political correctness!

    Ted Cruz: Vote your conscience in November.

    Republicans: The politically correct thing for Cruz to do was to support Trump. What a bastard!

  18. Strategy or coincidence? Terry McAuliffe for Senate 2017? He could always appoint a placeholder who doesn’t run, such as Doug Wilder, and pave the way. Doubt even McAuliffe brazen enough to appoint himself.

  19. Jamie, I understand,  but pick’s hers and been made. Time to move forward  and make the best of it.

  20. After the disaster that was the Republican National Convention ( and it was a disaster) Hillary had the lee way to make an unusual and provocative pick. She blew it. There is nothing about Kaine that will move Trump off the front pages. Qualified? Yes. Inspiring? No.

    This pick could and should have been about changing the narrative.

    Donald’s histrionics still get front page above the fold. HRC’s VP pick, page 7 along with the news about the county supervisors.

  21. HOUSEKEEPING ALERT: I think I have fixed this but due to a dumb coding error on my part you might find it necessary to log out and log back in to successfully post your first comment on this thread.

  22. Smart pick.  When the competition is a naive amateur, pick a pro.  Progressives fearing a Trump win (no way) should be happy.

  23. Picking a running mate based on potentially swinging a state is very cynical politics, btw.

  24. I don’t want a veep candidate who has a Wall Street ring in his nose. Send him back where he came from.

  26. Bink, I’d ‘cynically’ pick a Castro (The GOOD Castro !) hoping to flip AZ or TX or both. I think Kaine is a mostly decent and competent guy, but so are lots of other, more dynamic, Dems.

  28. I figured you did- my post just worked better with the assumption.  Castro’s cool, his horns are still a little green, imho.

     

    …and there’s nothing “fanatical” about you 😉

     

    Peace.

  29. Please, don’t underestimate my hatred of the republican party : neocons, christian crusade, pee tardy, and neo-nazis.

  30. sjwny – a glass of white milk is what we are to campaign with.

    HRC is cautious, at times too cautious. She had an entire country to find a VP and went only as far as the Capitol pool.  Speaks Spanish is not the same as Hispanic.  The first good thing I think of is he does not look like an Oompa-Loompa.

    So the excitement of Warren is now passing, I will get over it.

    Trump at least got his opposite.  Hillary got her same.

  31. $5 says Tim Kaine will campaign in a sweater vest before this whole kit n’ kaboodle is over  😉 We could have fun with this: 2016, The Year of the Impossibly Whites.

    Won’t you be my neighbor? ( This could be the revival of Dana Carvey’s career too … think about it )

    Bill Paxton would make a good choice here in our Trail Mix “Schlog to the White House” epic.

  32. The two campaigns could save on printing costs. Only one slogan needed:

    Trump/Pence/Clinton/Kaine2016: No. You. Can’t.

  34. from one who would have enjoyed the entertainment  if not the double historic moment of a Hillary/lizzie ticket, kaine is okay with me.  I take her at her word about wanting someone more than able to take on the presidency after that 3 a.m. call.  he has progressive governing cred from local to national. background shows he’s a socially and personally responsible human being with conscience which puts him head and shoulders above the opponents.    and he’s irish  🙂

  35. also see this as part of the very important drive to recover the senate.  lizzie is free to move around the country motivating folks to get out and vote the down ticket races.  she can even take up un-ted’s banner of “vote your conscience” with a new motto:  make washington work again

  36. Mr Crawford,

    I rejoice at the *thud* of both tickets because I am secure that as a Person of Impossibly White Ancestry my voice will be heard.

    Phew.

  38. freeing warren from the constraints of campaigning is a big plus imo.  lizzie unleashed can continue to do what she (and she alone it seems) has done best: rattle the bully’s cage, exasperating and provoking him to the explosive point of error and gaffe.

  39. I remember all the hoopla over Stephen Colbert taking over for Dave Letterman because he was “just another white guy”.  IMO, Colbert was tapped because he was the best….   his gender and ethnicity were irrelevant.  Clinton tapped Kaine because she was comfortable with him and thought he was eminently qualified to become president if necessary…  I’d bet his gender and ethnicity were irrelevant to her.

    I don’t think there was a black, Hispanic, gay, Hindu woman who was qualified available for her…

  40. kaine’s wife is pretty impressive too. according to wiki:

    Anne Bright Holton (born February 1, 1958) has served as the Virginia Secretary of Education since 2014. She is also the wife of United States Senator and former Governor Tim Kaine. She served as First Lady of Virginia from 2006 to 2010.

    [….]

    Holton earned an undergraduate degree in economics graduating magna cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1980. Three years later, she earned a law degree graduating cum laude from Harvard Law School.

    [….]

    From 1998 to 2005, she served as a Judge on the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for the City of Richmond. Holton was chief judge of the court from 2000 to 2003. She resigned from the bench following her husband’s election as Governor in December 2005.

  41. Craig – It’s just one, more poor decision for hilLIARy.  Her pick of Kaine is her way of flipping off progressives.  Do NOT expect a smooth convention.

    Also, IF she is the Dem nom, do NOT expect Berniecrats to fall in line in the fall.

    Picking an unethical, pro-Wall Street, pro-kick -the-chair-out-from-under-American-workers (but he speaks Spanish so he can pander to Latinos and lie to them for her) running mate, shows who she really represents.

    Ping – Most Berniecrats are planning to vote Green or stay home at this point, but if polls show it’s even close, come Election Day you can expect help…not because we like Trump, but because we know she is no better AND because the Clintons/DNC/status quo needs to be taught that they can NOT treat the people of their party this way.  We will not vote with the party if the party stands for the propping-up of the 1%.

    The only speaker I will listen to next week will be Bernie, but I will NOT fall in line for Hillary no matter what he says. My conscience will not allow it and the autumn leaves will be Green (unless polls show it’s close). Never hiLIARy.

    I would like to see how much impact tge bean dinner has in convention hall as Berniecrats “fart in her general direction.”

    All of the other speakers will be supporting her because they are part of the 1% and the woman-thing.  It’s ridiculous that gender is the reason so many are voting for her.

    Question: Will Biden be plagiarizing his speech, again?

    VERY disappointed in the DNC.  Hoping for a floor fight.  Hoping it’s not close and Trump can do it without my help.  We’re no worse off with Trump.  Shame on you DNC.

    Bernie 2016.

    OK, your resident troll is out of here for a couple of weeks, so breathe freely.

     

  42. dailybeast: How Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s VP, Defies the Religious Stereotype

    Kaine said on Charlie Rose in 2008. “We can take the conditions we’re in and say, shoot, that’s just the way it’s going to be. But, boy, every human being I’ve ever met of whatever background, they recognize there’s a gulf between where we are individually, where we are as a people, as a culture, and where we ought to be. Politics and religion are both about … breaking out of our own selfishness and our own limitations and saying what is and isn’t necessary. We can be better than that.”

    That is a quintessential progressive religious vision, and it is not something we’ve heard much on the presidential campaign trail this year, or most years, especially from someone who goes to mass every week. Don’t believe the hype that Kaine is the safe, boring choice. He could be a game-changer.

     

  43. “We’re no worse off with Trump”

    blueid, Bernie called him a “dictator” and dangerous

  44. I’ve been watching C-Span this morning. A while ago they cut away to a speaker who was positioned well above the convention floor in Cleveland. The workers down below were busy as bees disassembling things so that the place could be returned to its rightful tenants, the Cavs. Try as I could, and I really did try, I could see no, none, zero Trump family members involved in the clean-up effort. I suppose they could have been at the Waffle House up the alley…

  45. I have already gone to Philly in my mind and I am ready to move forward with HRC/TK ticket and start thinking about food!  I was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania and I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh…21 solid years of greasy & sugary food!   I can smell the potato pieroges from here…the Philly cheese steak, Tastykakes and Hershey’s chocolate almond bars.  I saw a news item today that Mondelez has made a bid for the US chocolate giant.  And before the trumpettes go insane over some Mexican company takeover?  Kraft is the parent company of Mondelez…which is based in Chicago…employees selected the name to represent ‘world delicious.’  Hershey, Pennsylvania is a nice town…amusement parks, museums, chocolate factory.  Although romantically, we can think of the old days when Hershey’s was a small, US operation, it is now a huge multi-national conglomerate  So many brands change hands in the confection world. Hershey’s international manufacturing.  It will not make America great again to bring all manufacturing back to the US…it will make us diabetic. There are other issues with the Hershey Trust established by old Milton & company.  They have reached an tentative agreement with the PA AG.  The big, sweet business of Pennsylvania.  It will be a treat for me to see the old Keystone state on tv…I can smell Philly from here…some smells I would like to forget.

  46. BiD…I do like the radical in you and I realize that I am taking the safe path with HRC.   It must be my age or the fact I do not live in Texas…as one who lives next door to the Lone Star state and gets a network feed from El Paso? I see how things get twisted there by instilling citizens with fear.   I do not like chaos…I am thankful for government every time I flush my toilet.  The establishment and status quo do not hurt me as much as the corporate billionaires.  I also like a party that attempts to treat woman equally, not as chattel.  As for a third party?  Bernie would have never gotten the money if he ran as an independent.  He is on the backs of humans who have spent a lifetime working for their party.  It is too bad a third party never got established and worked over the years…not the fault of the dems.   If there truly is a third party, where is it?  Easier to ride on the coattails of the established, just like trump.  Politics are a corrupt, sleazy business…if you want purity go to church…maybe.  As for the progressives…what about all of the negotiations with the Sanders’ folk? I believe in majority rule.  I wish we had the goodfellas mentality of the trump campaign…”forget about it!!”  Move on…

  48. this is what I meant about warren being free is a good thing. campaign responsibilities would have gotten in the way to do things like this if she were the vp candidate

  51. bId and SJ

    I think I hear what you are saying.

    We must not forget that Clinton will be the first female major party nominee ever; and, if people dissect the crap being heaped upon her learning that it is mostly mud, they will eagerly make her our first woman president. For me, that will be glass ceiling enough for that November evening.

  53. I overheard 2 twentysomethings last night at 5 Guys and one said, “I think I’m voting for Gary Johnson.”  I’m at the point now that whoever wins, I just hope that 50% of the country is pissed off about it, which I’m sure they will be. Maybe Bernie will tell us to “Vote our conscience.”?

  54. i am so unsurprised by Hillary’s pure establishment choice and confirmation of what I knew and saw AND experienced: the DNC’s active bias in the primaries, that I’m not worked up about it. Is what it is, and how it will be.

  55. Corey

    I see nothing wrong with a speaker, even the candidate, urging voters to vote their conscience. It’s always nice if that prompting is accompanied by wholehearted praise for the candidate and that individual’s agenda.

  59. Craig,

    could we get rid of the Trump picture on the mast head? How about Toby instead?

  60. Good idea Jace. I generally change those on Sunday but will do that when I get home, landing soon. But will save Toby, do a Dem convention theme

  61. Kaine’$ $160K pile of ‘Virginia-legal’ gift$ really pi$$e$ me off.
    WTF wa$ Clinton thinking ? ? ?

    I hope there is a floor fight over this guy.

  62. Watching the pair as Kaine is speaking—Hillary is looking at him with unbridled admiration. Good fit for her–and us.

  63. XR 

    I accepted $160K in gifts as governor
    CBS News ^ | 6/30/16 | REBECCA SHABAD

    Posted on 7/22/2016, 10:26:39 PM by randita

    Sen. Tim Kaine legally accepted more than $162,000 in gifts when he served as lieutenant governor and governor of Virginia..

    The disclosures have been publicly available for years, but they could be under some scrutiny now, since Kaine has been floated as a possible vice presidential pick for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

    Virginia Democrat disclosed the gifts from 2001 to 2009, according to reports filed by the Virginia Public Access Project, which Politico reported.

    Most of the gifts were for travel to and from political conferences and events. Accepting gifts is legal under Virginia’s lax ethics rules, and Kaine’s aides pointed out there was no suggestion of official favors in return, and he has exceeded the reporting requirements.

    “During his eight years as lieutenant governor and governor, Sen. Kaine went beyond the requirements of Virginia law, even publicly disclosing gifts of value beneath the reporting threshold,” a spokesperson told Politico. “He’s confident that he met both the letter and the spirit of Virginia’s ethical standards.”

    The disclosures showed he received an $18,000 Caribbean vacation from Virginia-based tech investor James Murray, Jr., and in 2007 received $5,500 in clothing from Stuart Siegel of S&K Menswear, a company that declared bankruptcy in 2009. Teva Pharmaceuticals gave $12,000 for expenses incurred for the Democratic Governors Association meeting in Aspen in 2006. Obama for America had the largest disclosure–$45,075 for travel and lodging related to the 2008 presidential campaign.

    Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was charged with corruption over $165,000 in gifts and loans while he was governor, although the conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court earlier this week. The original charges stemmed from the fact that these gifts and loans were from a single donor, Jonnie Williams, and McDonnell was accused of giving Williams favors in exchange for his largesse.”

  64. XR

    Holy Cow.  The GOP says it and you instantly give it credence?  You must know by now, that anything that comes from that source always requires context and nuance as they find the declaration of guilt without even the necessity of a kangaroo court de rigueur

  65. “Maybe Bernie will tell us to “Vote our conscience.”?”

    corey, why not? Hillary did just yesterday in tampa.

    “I never thought I would say these words, but Ted Cruz was right,” Clinton said to supporters. “In this election, do the right thing and vote your conscience. Vote for your future. Vote for the United States of America.”

  66. nice to see there’s still some civility, conviviality and even humor left in the senate

    “Trying to count the ways I hate @timkaine,” Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake wrote on Twitter. “Drawing a blank. Congrats to a good man and a good friend.”

  67. From the days I was in the Service, contractors would tempt me with token gifts. I accepted nothing–not even a coke. When being on the board of our condo and the chair of its building committee, the offers were obvious bribes. The offerors were blackballed.

    After being elected, I declined attempts to pick up meal checks, etc. And when named gifts were placed under the city hall Christmas tree, I declined to accept those aimed at me; I had already told people that I loved them all and that I wouldn’t accept or give presents. All these things made life much simpler for all involved.

  69. from pbs:

    Clinton said Kaine cares more about making a difference than making headlines, and is “everything that Donald Trump and Mike Pence are not.”

     

    “I like to fight for right,” Kaine said, detailing his life in public service. Speaking at times in Spanish, he drew comparisons between the Democratic ticket and Trump. “Isn’t it great already,” he said of America.

  70. I’m ok wth Kaine since the primary reason to pick a senator was one with a Dem governor.  Fits the bill

  71. a behind the scenes glimpse of kaine from a 2012 story in wapo:

    It’s not unusual, on an election-year Sunday, to find a white candidate in a black church. But Tim Kaine, swaying this month to the gospel groove at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in a poor Richmond neighborhood, wasn’t on the campaign trail. He was taking a break from it at his home parish.

    “How you doing, brother?” said Peter Thompson, 53, a lean black man in a green fedora, hugging the round-faced Kaine on the church steps.

    The part-time Pizza Hut cook and the former governor have known each other since Kaine joined the church almost three decades ago. “We helped start the Men’s Group together,” Thompson said.

    [….]

    Kaine had thought that he was done with elected office, with its complexities and compromises. At the end of his term, he made clear that he was headed for private life, maybe a nice college presidency.

    Then came word of an opening on Capitol Hill.

    “The day [Democratic U.S. Sen.] Jim Webb announced that he was not going to run again, we were clear Tim was not going to run,” his wife said.“He was ready for different things.”

    But Kaine, who left office with a 57 percent approval rating, was widely seen as the one Democrat with a chance to hold the seat. The party push started immediately. Webb encouraged him to run, as did Sen. Mark R. Warner (D).

    “They had to lobby him pretty hard,” said Terry McAuliffe…

  72. craig, so does your favorite politician still think well of him?  is it possible that jim webb will think more favorably now of and endorse the democratic ticket?

  73. Kaine in Miami: ‘Bienvenidos a todos’

    Speaking at Florida International University, a campus that is more than half Hispanic, Kaine described his vision for an inclusive country. Dipping in and out in Spanish several times, he drew on his experiences as mayor, governor and the time he spent helping Jesuit missionaries in Honduras to emphasize the importance of service.

    “I’ve always believed that however you serve, what matters is whether you actually deliver results for people,” Kaine said. “That’s been my goal in every position I’ve ever held.”

  74. Kaine Crushes It…

    Ya know…. I always expect people on the right to eat their own. But watching this happen on the left has me shaking my head…. how very sad our politics has become.

  76.  

    can’t you see the big twit drooling over what he’ll tweet next, new nasties about Hillary and now her vp choice?

    I can imagine the family must really want to hide his tweeter from him, sedate him or tie him up as depicted in above cartoon.

  77. Mid-90’s and a heat index in the low 100’s.  Time to make succatash, grilled chicken an something else – oh beer for dinner.  Listening to Handel and reading the NY Times review of “Absolutely Fabulous – the Movie” is a great way to enjoy a calm and peaceful afternoon.

    HRC could go middle of the road and have a left lane VP.  She does not need to have a backseat driver to go down the middle.  It is going to take a while to get used to twins in the WH.

  79. Jamie,  now that’s absolutely fabulous!  more more.

     

    btw, good discussion on newshour today:

    As Hillary Clinton prepares to accept the Democratic nomination for president, two biographers look back at her growth as a politician. Mark Lander, who wrote “Alter Egos: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and the Twilight Struggle Over American Power,” and Michael Tomasky, who wrote “Hillary’s Turn: Inside Her Improbable, Victorious Senate Campaign,” join Hari Sreenivasan

  80. from Obama email to Hillary supporters today:

    ….it’s a testament to Hillary’s character and integrity that she chose a man like Tim Kaine.

    Like Hillary, Tim is an optimist. But like Hillary, he is also a progressive fighter. He’s the son of a teacher and an iron worker who’s always got working families on his mind. For nearly two decades, he specialized in representing people who had been denied fair access to housing just because of what they looked like, or because they had a disability. And when a gunman killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech, Tim knew he had a responsibility as governor to offer more than thoughts and prayers to the community he mourned with — and as a gun owner, he stood up to the gun lobby on their behalf.

    There aren’t a lot of elected officials in Washington whom people like even more when the cameras are off than when the cameras are on. But Tim is that kind of guy. He’s a man who’s risen to the highest levels of government but still lives in the same neighborhood he did as a city councilmember in Richmond. You just can’t find anyone with a bad thing to say about him, from the staff who’ve worked for him to the Republicans who’ve served alongside him.

    Simply put: Tim is a good man. He’s a true progressive. And he will make a great vice president.

  81. Pokemon is amazing, fyi.  It is going to revitalize our urban centers and drive billions of $$$ to small businesses.  Do with that info what you will.

  84. The more political conventions I watch, the more I like my dog.

     

    (Just kidding, I didn’t watch that s— show)

     

  87. While not my favorite song…….this is, perhaps, the greatest song in all recorded history:

     

  88. There was Jimmy……right there on the jukebox at the community center along with Elvis, Jerry Lee, Little Richard, the Everly Bros, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, and Percy Faith……..

    Slow Dance, boys and girls……..

    Haha, Jimmy and Tommy…..I always did get those two confused…..

  91. The elderlies who hung out at the community center watching over the kids at one point decided that “doing the dog” was dirty dancing and banned it from the floor….

    “Doing the Dog”was not dirty dancing……dirty dancing, in the Lenny Bruce sense of the word, was what we pulled off during “Love Me Tender”

  92. Don and Phil

    Mutt and Jeff

    martin and Lewis

    abbot and costello

    sonny and cher

    ian and sylvia

    bonnie and clyde

    burns and allen

    leopold and loeb

     

  93. Well my batt’ry’s got a hole in it

    Well my batt’ry’s got a hole in it

    Well my batt’ry’s got a hole in it

    Don’t push my phone

     

  95.  

    Jamie, It’s not repug information, it’s Kaine’s own reporting. The facts strengthen the rippers’ smears that Clinton is corrupt insider, and a player with other corrupt insiders.

    It doesn’t matter what I think; I am voting a straight Dem ticket. However, as elections are won among the easily confused low-information Independents, this selection of Kaine is a shot in the foot.

  98. Sturgeone

    What I love about the incredibly beautiful O Mio Bambino Caro is that it is a love sick teenage girl pleading with daddy dearest to let her go away with a boy who has promised her a ring.

    O really kid, you don’t say, of course he will do that…. lol

    Oh my dear father,I like him, he is very handsome.I want to go to Porta Rossato buy the ring!Yes, yes, I want to go there!And if my love were in vain,I would go to Ponte Vecchioand throw myself in the Arno!I am pining and I am tormented,Oh God! I would want to die!Daddy, have mercy, have mercy!Daddy, have mercy, have mercy!

  99. I just find Kaine a very ethical man.  More personally conservative than I am, but with enough give in public life to gain him the 100% ratings on liberal issues of importance.  If you must be religious, get a Jesuit.  They understand nuance and negotiation.

  100. Seems to me, progressive complaints regarding the VP pick are predicated under the assumption that the darlings of the movement actually WANTED the job.  The Vice Presidency is where political careers go to die, slowly.

  101. Jamie

    I just finished watching the rally today in Miami on Npr and was i pleasantly surprised. I really like the guy and don’t find him boring at all.. The way he told the story of his life was touching and drew me in like a good book.. An excellent fit for Hillary. I wanted Warren, Booker or Castro and thought it was a missed opportunity but Tim Kaine is a plus in my opinion.. Lots on the left won’t be satisfied but then they seldom are where Hillary’s concerned..

  102. Trump & Putin. Yes, It’s Really a Thing
    Josh Marshall

    Read both articles: After his bankruptcy and business failures roughly a decade ago Trump has had an increasingly difficult time finding sources of capital for new investments. As I noted above, Trump has been blackballed by all major US banks with the exception of Deutschebank, which is of course a foreign bank with a major US presence. He has steadied and rebuilt his financial empire with a heavy reliance on capital from Russia. At a minimum the Trump organization is receiving lots of investment capital from people close to Vladimir Putin.
    Trump’s tax returns would likely clarify the depth of his connections to and dependence on Russian capital aligned with Putin. And in case you’re keeping score at home: no, that’s not reassuring.
    4. Then there’s Paul Manafort, Trump’s nominal ‘campaign chair’ who now functions as campaign manager and top advisor. Manafort spent most of the last decade as top campaign and communications advisor for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian Ukrainian Prime Minister and then President whose ouster in 2014 led to the on-going crisis and proxy war in Ukraine. Yanukovych was and remains a close Putin ally. Manafort is running Trump’s campaign.

  105. Holy Crap, Tim Kaine Just Killed It In His First Speech With Clinton
    He spoke Spanish to the cheering crowds and delivered a healthy dose of humility in a diseased election year. In other words, Tim Kaine just took America by storm.
    Michael Tomasky
    “Lots of people are going to like this guy. He’s a happy warrior who is clearly genuine about being of service to others and to community and country. He embodies what we all think is best about this country and what we hope still exists. It exists in Tim Kaine.
    I know the political science says vice presidents don’t matter. But politics is as much art as science. We just met an artist today”

  106. I remember being somewhat disappointed when Obama chose Biden. Old Joe turned out to be pretty damn good. Way too early to judge Kaine.

  108. For the first 6 years I preferred Joe Biden to Barack Obama.

     

    If Kaine can keep the republicans on the ropes from now until January 3d, I’ll be happy as hell with him.

  110. “Seems to me, progressive complaints regarding the VP pick are predicated under the assumption that the darlings of the movement actually WANTED the job.”

    bink, seems to me too.  the “darlings” are probably pleased as punch to have had all the publicity of the vetting hoohah but none of the headache of actual campaign other than what fun they can have helping down ticket candidates. a plus (if they magnanimously be the good sport) is earning chits for their own future runs.

Comments are closed.