Sen Kaine Democratic VP pick

[Gray_Matter]

Because? What does she have to lose? How is she going to lose her base by choosing a liberal vp? Only thing I can think of is that she is trying to appeal to independents/republicans.

You can't win an election with only your base. You need people that are outside the base to win.

[eschatological]

Then why appeal to her base even more if she already has them?

Because he provides a swing state.

He's basically Hillary without the baggage. And through him, people will realize they actually like Hillary's policies. He's like a surrogate for her beliefs.

It's a bit of political math and a bit of traditional political wisdom. We'll see if it pays off.

Honestly, I think the Mike Pence allowed her to be this safe in her pick. Mike Pence is so anti-woman, anti-LGBT, so religiously rigid, and so disliked in Indiana that he instantly turns off even more people from the Trump campaign who might have been attracted to Trump for his trade policies. IE, any libertarian should look at Mike Pence and immediately be like, "Nope."

[TrumpIsPresident]

Yep. That same Obama. You see I understand government, and Obama doesn't personally fund ICE and Border Patrol and all the other Law Enforcement vehicles that exist. That would be... Congress I believe it's called that has failed to fund these programs sufficient to their needs. So while you blame Obama, I blame the entire government for releasing criminals and not deporting them. You do of course realize that many many people illegally enter this country when a Republican is President right? And I can find similar crime statistics for every President in the last however many years you want to go back - the (R) and (D) next to their names are immaterial.

You understand government? Then surely you must know that Obama Administration policies (enforced by immigration judges appointed by Obama personally) have stripped ICE of enforcement powers in regards to detaining illegals with criminal convictions. This was why 20,000 convicted criminals were set loose in 1 year alone. This stuff wasn't the act of congress it came directly from the Executive Branch and that's a fact.

Ah thanks, I don't know the names and such yet. I will disengage.

Ah turning your back on facts that conflict with your adopted narrative? ...you'll fit in well here.

Oh and between you and I, and contrary to what that Orbitus troll said, /whispers I'm not actually a Republican --but SHHHH don't tell him that.

Oh and don't tell him I'm not White either because he loves to call me racist cause ...ya know ...its easier than dealing with those conflicting facts I just spoke of.

[Slybak]

Then why appeal to her base even more if she already has them?

Tim Kaine isn't a pick for the base. That would have been Warren or Perez.

The Vice Presidential selection has no positive correlation with campaign victories in the modern era; you don't get any discernible bump by making a good choice, you just suffer if you make a bad choice (Thomas Eagleton, Sarah Palin, etc). As such, candidates pick running mates, if they're smart, based on three criteria:

1) Is this person an electoral liability?
2) Can this person be reasonably be trusted to take over if I die in office?
3) Can this person credibly speak and act in my name as a surrogate of my administration?

[Pangean]

She's courting the middle that are turned off by Trump but worried about moving as far left as Sanders. Believe it or not, there are many more of them.

Pretty much. Can't win Virginia if you aren't a moderate.

[Slybak]

Like an Elizabeth Warren/Corey Booker pick would have galvanized his base. It's kind of a gamble, but I think Bernie has been showing indications during the RNC that he's not going to tolerate his supporters going for Trump.

Cory Booker is no galvanizing force within the Democratic Party, and no Democrat in their right mind would ever pull Elizabeth Warren out of the Senate unless they get an ironclad guarantee from the Massachusetts Democratic Party that Martha Coakley won't run to replace her (and lose for the third time in a row).

[xenogear3]

Trump has 60% winning chance now.

[eschatological]

So, Trump picks towards the fringe, Hillary picks towards the middle. I think the Hillary pick is more politically sound.

[Deletedaccount1]

Our new vice president.

[Vynestra]

If nothing else it almost certainly wins her Virginia, which we all know is a key swing state.

It really actually hurts Trumps chance of winning the election if he can't win Virginia, if she wins Florida and Virginia it's virtually over for him.

[Stormspellz]

Dems just have most of them brainwashed into thinking that.

Fact is Democrats just choose to defend illegal immigrant by, surprise surprise, crying racist so ignorant people will ignore the realities.

Sad part is a great number of illegal invaders are murders and rapists but hey we have to be "tolerant" of them too, right?

loads of rhetoric short on facts you are

[c000]

As a Sanders supporter I won't be voting for her. I won't be voting for anyone. Let the chips fall as the may.

[Ausr]

Most fucking boring pick she could have made.

I was hoping she'd at least pick somebody slightly interesting for VP since she's so incredibly boring.

I wasn't expecting Sanders himself, but fuck man Elizabeth Warren would have locked up 90% of the Bernie supporters and made all this political maneuvering completely irrelevant. She's essentially on his level but wouldn't be called a socialist by the retarded right wing who wanted to malign her. Worst she'd get is be called Pocahontas by Donald Trump, and I'd love to see him doing that on the national general-election stage when Clinton could respond to him.

Fuck man even somebody like Julian Castro.

Kaine also just hours ago said something positive and supportive about the TPP.

Anybody is better than sociopath Trump I guess.

Warren is better suited as a Senator. Frees her up to shut down Trump every time he tries to reference her on Twitter.

[Lenonis]

Tim Kaine is a safe pick. It nets Hillary a swing state which has been purple-ish in the past two decades.

The gamble here is that Hillary's camp is expecting Bernie's people to fall in line in spite of this pick, instead of because of this pick, like an Elizabeth Warren/Corey Booker pick would have galvanized his base. It's kind of a gamble, but I think Bernie has been showing indications during the RNC that he's not going to tolerate his supporters going for Trump.

Pretty much this -- with the added calculation that this doesn't require the Dems to give up a senate seat.

It also indicates that Hillary thinks she has enough of an advantage in the election that she doesn't need a VP pick to really motivate voters. I don't think Tim Kaine is going to really do much in either direction -- which frankly given Trump's VP pick is probably a good calculation. Pence isn't exactly a boring vanilla VP choice.

[twelvethirty]

lol at idiots thinking she was for diversity and all that other garbage. enjoy your snake oil

[Lenonis]

lol at idiots thinking she was for diversity and all that other garbage.

This doesn't exist in a vacuum. If you end up disappointed in the diversity of the Dem ticket you can only turn to the GOP ticket and...welp.

It's kind of frustrating to see criticisms lobbed at the democratic party that are either applicable or even worse on the GOP side. Because, at the end of the day, it's either or.

[Gray_Matter]

Tim Kaine is a safe pick. It nets Hillary a swing state which has been purple-ish in the past two decades.

The gamble here is that Hillary's camp is expecting Bernie's people to fall in line in spite of this pick, instead of because of this pick, like an Elizabeth Warren/Corey Booker pick would have galvanized his base. It's kind of a gamble, but I think Bernie has been showing indications during the RNC that he's not going to tolerate his supporters going for Trump.

I do think that it's a risk. Perez would have been a better option, IMHO. I think the reason why she didn't go with a more liberal pick is because of the way that the hard core liberals have been reacting. She must have felt that she would get more votes from the other side.

[apepi]

Because he provides a swing state.

He's basically Hillary without the baggage. And through him, people will realize they actually like Hillary's policies. He's like a surrogate for her beliefs.

It's a bit of political math and a bit of traditional political wisdom. We'll see if it pays off.

Honestly, I think the Mike Pence allowed her to be this safe in her pick. Mike Pence is so anti-woman, anti-LGBT, so religiously rigid, and so disliked in Indiana that he instantly turns off even more people from the Trump campaign who might have been attracted to Trump for his trade policies. IE, any libertarian should look at Mike Pence and immediately be like, "Nope."

That is one of the reasons Trump wanted Kasich. He is basically the opposite of Trump. I could actually see myself voting Kasich over Hillary.

[Arril]

Then surely you must know that Obama Administration policies (enforced by immigration judges appointed by Obama personally) have stripped ICE of enforcement powers in regards to detaining illegals with criminal convictions. This was why 20,000 convicted criminals were set loose in 1 year alone. This stuff wasn't the act of congress it came directly from the Executive Branch and that's a fact.

You are correct in the meta but badly mistaken about the details. Obama has not stripped ICE of any powers. Nor have judges personally appointed by him stripped ICE of enforcement powers. This is all about Congress, and budget - as I stated.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dhs-free...rants-in-2015/
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"Jacques' release and that of more than 19,700 convicted criminal immigrants during the 2015 budget year reveal yet another complication in the country's complicated immigration system. ICE has released tens of thousands of convicted criminals. Combined, those people have been convicted of hundreds of thousands of crimes, including murder and sexual assault.

Jacques' case and those of others like him show how difficult it would be to carry out proposals by some politicians, including presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, that immigration officials simply find and deport the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally.

ICE Director Sarah Saldana told Congress recently that agents routinely have little choice but to release immigrants.

Saldana said the agency is bound by a complex set of immigration laws and rules that govern which immigrants have to be detained and which ones can be set free while they wait for an immigration judge to rule on their case. Add to the mix a yearslong immigration court backlog of nearly half a million cases and some criminal immigrants could be free in the United States for years before being ordered out of the country."
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Why do you suppose there is a "yearslong" immigration court backlog? Perhaps because the Republicans in Congress have done everything in their power to thwart Obama and make him look bad? And to cut government budgets whenever possible? Who has been pushing for immigration reform? Certainly not the Republicans.

You'll need more than statements from a random internet person to make me believe in your "facts". I posted my source. Let's see yours.

[akris15]

Well this locks up Virginia (a state she would probably win anyways) and has a perk to helping win Florida but a very safe but boring pick. Assuming she has 217 electorial votes right now (based on many factors like polling, demographics, traditional states, ect), adding Virigina and Florida bring her up to 259 which basically forces Trump to win every single remaining battleground state which is quite the task. The left though is not going to like this so it is a risk but honestly where she needs to win doesn't have much of a "liberal" presence anyways (ie Ohio/Penn). Personally not the pick I would make but I perfectly understand the reasoning in this pick