“I don’t sugarcoat the challenges of Kamala Harris winning this as a woman” - Senator Kaine talks election
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - U.S. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine knows a thing or two about a woman running for president.
He was on the ticket with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. That gives him an insider’s view on what Vice President Kamala Harris is about to face.
“Everyone who was a pledged delegate to Joe Biden at the convention now is an uncommitted delegate, they can vote as they want,” Senator Kaine said. “I think Kamala said, ‘Look, I want to earn this nomination between now and the convention.’ And I believe she’s going to. I’m strongly supporting her.”
Kaine says the Vice President, who is now at the front of the Democratic Party, is a step forward.
“People aren’t going to change their mind about Joe Biden and they’re not going to change their mind about Donald Trump,” Kaine said. “Kamala Harris is not known as well. I believe she has an upside that Biden probably did not have.”
Kaine says who Harris picks to be her vice president on the ticket is critical.
“I mean, that is very important, because you’re picking someone to help you be a good president,” Kaine said. “And you’re also picking somebody that if, God forbid, something bad happens to you, you have confidence would do a good job.”
While he was Clinton’s running mate eight years ago, Kaine says you will not see his name on the ticket this time.
“Zero chance of a Harris-Kaine ticket,” he said. “First, personally, I’m in the place I need to be in the Senate. Frankly, there are some great senators who could be wonderful parts of the ticket, but like Mark Warner and me, they have a Republican governor. And Kamala Harris is not going to ask someone to be her ticket mate, and then leave a Senate seat open that a Republican governor would pick a Republican to replace. With a one-vote Senate margin, that is not going to happen.”
When it comes to choosing a vice president, Kaine says it’s a matter of who and when.
“I’ve been through the vice-presidential vetting process twice, and normally it takes about two months,” Kaine said. “We don’t have two months—it has to happen a lot faster.”
If Harris wins, she will be the first woman president. As Clinton’s former running mate, Senator Kaine knows that is no easy feat.
“I’ve seen how hard this is,” Kaine said. “I don’t sugarcoat the challenges of Kamala Harris winning this race as a woman, as an African American, someone whose mom was AAPI background. She’s trying to make history, but we’re a country that knows how to make history.”
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