This week, Democrats will be introduced to Senator Tim Kaine at the convention in Philadelphia. But Kaine has a long history here in Virginia dating back to his days as a famous trial lawyer in Richmond. Michael Pope has this look at Kaine’s rise to the national party ticket.
So just who is Timothy Michael Kaine? What does he believe? Is he a liberal? A moderate? Perhaps even a conservative Democrat, if such a thing exists?
That’s a question Kaine tried to answer during his 2005 race for governor, when the late Tim Russert asked him this question during a debate in Fairfax County.
“Mr. Kaine, just a quick question: You once said you were a proud liberal. Your TV commercials now say you are a conservative on some social and cultural issues. Would you feel comfortable with Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee in 2008?
“Why did you guys invite him to moderate this thing? Tim, I once was interviewed by a paper when I started off in local government in 1994 and I said in the way Thomas Jefferson advocated liberal values for this country I did consider myself a liberal. So if you like Jefferson I’m probably your guy. But if you’ve got problems with Jefferson, no. I’ve got a candidate, and his name is Mark Warner. That’s the guy I’m backing."
“But if Mrs. Clinton was the nominee, you’d support her?"
“Um. I’m a team player. I’m a team player."
A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Kaine went to college at the University of Missouri and then law school at Harvard. He came to Virginia after marrying the daughter of Republican Governor Linwood Holton and then made a name for himself as a trial lawyer — a reputation he leveraged to get a seat on the Richmond City Council. Here’s Councilman Kaine in 1997, when he came to Capitol Hill to testify in favor of allowing local governments to tax Internet sales.
“I’m getting familiar with the Internet mostly because my kids are teaching me, and I see that this is a dramatic and expanding part of the economy in the next few years. Putting it off limits for local tax purposes does cause us concern because it is such a growth area."
It was that kind of forward thinking that caused Kaine’s colleagues on the Richmond City Council to choose him to be mayor and ultimately lead to his election as lieutenant governor in 2001. In that role he was seen as a kind of understudy to Democratic Governor Mark Warner. Here’s Kaine talking about that relationship during a 2006 campaign event.
"You know in some ways I feel like I can’t get out from under this guy’s shadow. I went to my 30th high school reunion last weekend in Kansas City and I stood up in front of the entire student body to give a speech to my Catholic high school and the teacher introduced me as Governor Mark Warner. Mark had never been within a thousand miles of this place."
During his campaign for governor, Kaine tried to position himself as a moderate Democrat — a candidate who could win in what was perceived — at the time — to be a Republican state. Here’s Kaine in 2005 on immigration.
“I’m deeply opposed to illegal immigration, and I call on the federal government, the president and the immigration services to stop the flood of illegal immigrants into this country, and I’ve supported wise state policies to try to make sure that we do not provide services to folks in the state who are not here legally unless public health or safety demands it."
During his campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2012, Kaine was reluctant to support gay marriage. Here’s how he responded to a question about gay marriage during a debate in Fairfax County.
“I would allow churches, as they do today, to continue to decide which relationships they recognize in the church. I would allow state legislatures to make the decision about whether they would title a same-sex relationship a marriage, a civil union or a domestic partnership."
Some of those moderate positions may be evolving now that Kaine has joined the ticket with Hillary Clinton. Take his support for the Trans Pacific Partnership, for example. Since he became the vice presidential nominee, Kaine is now joining Clinton in her opposition to the trade deal.
