Pros and Cons Of Choosing A VP Candidate

[Joel thakkar]

I know many DUers have expressed negative opinion about Tim Kaine being the VP Choice due to his stance on few issues. However, I would like to keep this thread purely about pros and cons in election for choosing him.

PROs :

--> From a Swing State - "Virginia". It will probably seal the state for democrats.
--> Virginia is currently ruled by a democratic governor. Thus, a democratic nominee in the senate.
--> He speaks fluent Spanish which can be very useful in a high hispanic population and very imp swing state : Florida.

CONs :

--> A good section of progressive people won't be happy with the choice and some of them may stay home on election day (I don't think there will be any of them shifting to trump-nut party just due to VP choice of tim kaine).

Any other PROs and CONs ?

I think if Kaine can deliver Virginia and Florida for hillary, USA will get her first female president.

[radical noodle]

1. Why would Kaine deliver Florida for Hillary?

I'm not sure most people down here have a clue who he is, other than very active Dems.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. He has all the charisma of a wet dishrag.

He's anti-choice.
He's a centrist, more conservative than Hillary.
He completely sucked as DNC chair in 2010, when Dems got clobbered.
He adds nothing useful - no ethnic diversity, no excitement, nothing that would make independents or undecideds vote for the ticket.
Did I mention that he's boring?

[SheilaT]

3. Here's my take on what's needed for the VP choice:

1. Someone who is either already aligned with the nominee on all issues, or who can easily turn to those positions.
2. Someone whose future ambitions to be President can be held in check for four to eight years. (think Al Gore)
3. Someone who has zero interest in being President but who is content to perform the many, mostly ceremonial, duties of the office. (think Joe Biden)

I'm sure there are other qualifications, but at the moment they escape me.

[pnwmom]

5. To add to your list, someone who's a strong campaigner and debater. n/t

[pnwmom]

4. The major con is that he accepted $162,000 in gifts as Governor.

Virginia has pretty lax laws in that respect, but people in most states would look askance at that.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tim-kaine-accepted-160k-in-gifts-as-governor/

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.