Tom and Huckabee

[tannybogus]

With the Tim Kaine buzz having reached a fever pitch today, it might be worth sharing a couple of additional thoughts on the Virgina Governor. Chris Cillizza's arguments for and against Kaine are a must-read, and lay out most of the checkmark arguments on his candidacy. Works well with Obama? Check. Speaks fluent Spanish? Check. But inexperienced on the national stage? Also a check. Not a particularly distinguished track record as governor? Check.
I spent about 20 minutes watching different videos of Tim Kaine and here was the impression I was left with: Kaine comes across as very warm. Empathetic. Normal guy. Not polician-y. Can be fiery at times, and sometimes a little flatter, but neither a technocrat nor a screaming populist.

He's not a rock star. He's an average-looking guy, which is to say, for a politician, he has below-average looks. An Obama-Kaine ticket would NOT be this:


Instead, it would be more like this:


Kaine would bring humility and good humor to the ticket, and would go some way toward hedging that risk. He would not be a VP designed to win over converts, so much as to shore up some of Obama's weak and wavering support.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ :dilemma:

[saltpoint]

1. Huckabee?

I can barely stand to look at that guy, let alone the thought of him in the White House, or anywhere near it. I hope McCain, thick as McCain is, picks someone else.

Kaine is not flashy but you don't have to be flashy to serve others in a Central American missionary. Your heart has to be beating strongly, unlike say, Dick Cheney's, and I mean that in both ways.

Still not sure what the Obama camp is up to this week. Kaine's name is skyrocketing to the top of the water-cooler charts, though, that's for sure.

I love Boxer and Schweitzer but could live very comfortably with Tim Kaine. He's a good man.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Oh God. I admired the top photo, but then you had to smack me

in the face with a close-up of Hucka-teeth. I agree, Kaine on the ticket makes a poor "visual", and I'm all into visuals, image, and reputation--I think those three are at least half of what we elect on. He just looks used-car salesmany to me, with weird eyebrows. I liked the visuals of Webb, Biden, and Clark next to Obama--and Obama and Hagel looked good together too. Not so much Reed--too short. I pay attention to these things.

[meegbear]

3. Tim Kaine buzz?

This is the first time I even heard of the man, never mind him being a VP candidate.