Hillary Clinton’s selection of Tim Kaine has progressives and others wondering – why?
Why alienate the 43% of Democrats who wanted a more progressive Democratic Party by picking a running mate who is not only “boring” but a throwback to the centrism of her husband’s administration?
It’s quite a gamble, admittedly – choosing a running-mate she thinks may be palatable to Republicans. But Clinton may have doomed her party in November.
Tim Kaine has nothing to offer progressives, nor will his checkered past on the issues unify a fractured party. Long before Trump – and just like the Clintons – Kaine campaigned on a “get tough on crime” platform supporting mandatory minimum sentencing. Though he supports environmental protection, Kaine also supports nuclear power. He is a globalist, happy to remind everyone that his home state began as an experiment in global free trade.
Hello TPP.
In December 2011 Kaine supported bans on contraception, but scarcely two months later voted to increase access to contraception. Besides his unreliable support (or outright opposition of) abortion and contraception, in 2011 Kaine opposed gay adoption and has been less than a reliable ally of the LGBTQ community. But, again in 2012, he apparently underwent a conversion on the road to Damascus and began supporting gay rights.
Tim Kaine appears to be perfectly engineered as a running mate for Hillary Clinton. Like Clinton herself, Kaine’s inconsistencies and “evolution” on issues can be taken any way you like. Kaine is a Democratic party insider, has been William Jefferson Clinton-approved, and was also on Obama’s short list of running mates. He can be whatever you want him to be. He’s not quite a Bubba, but he is a proud (albeit transplanted) son of the Old Dominion. He’s not a progressive by a long shot, but he’s not Caligula either.
Or a Donald Trump.
Speaking of which. The spectre of a Trump presidency no doubt terrifies advocates of reproductive rights. This has led to some frantic back-pedaling on critiques of Kaine. Less than 24 hours after Hillary Clinton tapped him as her running mate, NARAL issued the following statement:
“While Senator Kaine has been open about his personal reservations about abortion, he’s maintained a 100% pro-choice voting record in the U.S. Senate. He voted against dangerous abortion bans, he has fought against efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, and he voted to strengthen clinic security by establishing a federal fund for it. In the wake of clinic closures around the country due to deceptive TRAP laws, Senator Kaine has co-sponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that gives federal assurances that women will be able to access their constitutional right to abortion care regardless of what zip code they live in.”
Back in 2009, however, NARAL had a much different view of Kaine:
“The leaders of NARAL Pro-Choice America and NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia expressed deep disappointment at Gov. Tim Kaine’s decision to sign into law a bill that funnels state money to anti-choice organizations, the so-called”crisis pregnancy centers. […] Kaine, who also serves as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has taken action that’s inconsistent with the strong pro-choice platform adopted by party leaders last August. This is the first piece of legislation involving a woman’s right to choose that Kaine considered since being elected chairman of the national party.”
To regard Tim Kaine’s sudden change of heart as an “evolution” is a charitable view. While Kaine benefits from the perception he is a principled man grappling with private moral views in the public sphere, Occam’s Razor may explain it better: he’s a politician.
Kaine supported keeping the Bush tax cuts in place except for the most egregious giveaways to the rich. He opposed additional taxes on millionaires and supported additional tax exemptions for property owners. He opposes regulation of the financial industry – thus dooming the DNC’s plank calling for re-regulation.
As governor of Virginia, Kaine supported “war on drugs” programs that harshly prosecute marijuana use as a “gateway drug.” Again, it is impossible to see how he will support the decriminalization plank in the DNC’s 2016 platform.
Kaine’s domestic prescriptions may be less destructive than the Republicans’ but, when it comes to foreign policy and militarism, Kaine can be expected to be an equal partner in crime with his running mate. He has opposed budget cuts to the military, fought base closings in his already heavily-militarized home state, and like other Blue Dog Democrats is focused on homeland security, bioterrorism, and counter-terrorism. In his response to “On the Issues” Kaine replied with a “Strongly Favors” to the question of expanding the military.
Just wait ’till you see the 2017 military budget.
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