Is Tim Kaine the Right Running Mate for Hillary Clinton?

INTRODUCTION

Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine campaigned in Virginia on July 14.Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Hillary Clinton has chosen Tim Kaine, a senator from Virginia, as her running mate — much to the immediate chagrin of some progressives who hoped she would rally Bernie Sanders supporters with a like-minded choice.

But Tim Kaine is known as a pragmatic politician whose his addition to the Democratic ticket could pull in moderate Republicans and independents upset by Donald J. Trump.

Is Tim Kaine a good pick for vice president?

READ THE DISCUSSION »

DEBATERS

• 

  The Wrong Message to Populist Swing Voters

  STEPHANIE TAYLOR, PROGRESSIVE CHANGE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE
  With this V.P. pick, Clinton has a higher mountain to climb, and it makes the rhetoric in the weeks ahead even more important.
• 

  A Boring Centrist Is a Good Pick

  DAN SCHNUR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
  A no-drama, low-risk running mate like Kaine is the safest and surest way of avoiding any controversy — or any excitement — at all.
• 

  She Must Appoint Progressives to Other Positions

  FELICIA WONG, ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE
  It is important to remember that Clinton’s choice of Vice President is just the first of many teammates she will select.
• 

  Clinton Continues to Take Voters of Color for Granted

  PENIEL JOSEPH, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN
  The choice of Kaine does not reflect a thin bench of black and Latino stars in the Democratic Party, but an utter lack of political imagination.