What's not to like. The guy is a WINNER.

Tim Kaine is the safer pick. But I like Warren more. She's bolder and more courageous.

Hillary and Kaine are pretty boring. Warren can deliver a vibrant and exciting speech and message. I think that counts for something.

And more specifically, I care a lot about financial and banking regulations because I believe they are very important issues for our country, and this is one of Warren's strong suits.

I wouldn't mind a Hillary-Kaine ticket, but a Hillary-Warren ticket just seems a lot more special.

Could just be personal taste, but I think Hillary's potential administration needs a jolt of energy. She's run a good campaign, and it looks there is a good chance she will become our next president, but the work just begins when you actually become the president. Favorability ratings are a president's lifeblood and with historically poor ones and a likely GOP-held Congress, it might be difficult for Hillary and Democrats to do much of anything.

I think she still gets elected by a large margin with either Kaine or Warren, but Warren gives her a higher political ceiling and the ability to better rally her base and have more political leverage with the American public to accomplish more of the Democratic political agenda.



He's supported the death penalty and some questionable executions, he has labeled himself as pro-life, and he was against gay marriage and gay couples adopting children. These are all perfectly acceptable positions to hold, of course, but I just personally disagree with them. He has since flipped on all of these issues, much like Hillary Clinton has done on many social issues, so they are similar in that regard. He's an "evolving with the times" sort of Democrat on social issues, and I'd rather have someone that is ahead of the curve in that area.

That being said, it's hard to find any establishment Democrat who were in favor of gay rights in the early or mid 2000s. It's only recently become a politically advantageous thing to support. Even Obama didn't support gay marriage publicly until Biden "outed" him in May of 2012. Weak sauce.

He wouldn't be representing his constituents if he held those "bold" liberal positions. Think about where he's from. It's a hell of a lot easier for people like Sanders and Warren to have liberal positions given their constituent makeup. Now, do you think those people have any business representing the people of Utah, Texas, Alabama, etc.? We need a president who best represents the entire country and it seems like Hillary is that choice along with someone from a moderate state (like Virginia).

I completely understand his previous positions based on the political context of where he was from and what state he represented. Virginia is an interesting state, and they typically have some of the most interesting Senators, such as Jim Webb. What an interesting fellow.

No doubt Sanders had the benefit of representing the uber-liberal state of Vermont. Of course he could support gay marriage since the 1970s. He had the political leverage to do so. Now he can parade around his history of supporting gays, even though he might not been as vocal of a supporter of homosexuals if he represented almost any other state.

But I also think we should be able to hold politicians accountable for the positions they held on various topics, even in light of what their state or constituents generally support. A politician who only supports certain positions or policies because they are popular is not something to be admired. That is what Trump is: a populist (and in my opinion, a demagogue).

I don't think Trump can be considered a populist....too many people hate his policies! As for having popular decisions...I think it's a matter of politicians not thinking about fringe issues. They just go with what they were raised with and that's that. And let's be clear, gay marriage was a fringe issue up until the late 2000s. This is anecdotal, but when I was in high school in the early 2000s, hardly anyone was openly gay. The only ones who were, were very strange people. Now, I hear guys are taping their dicks to their asshole to simulate having a vagina. But that's California for you.

Even the most ardent progressives will fight change that is "too much" for them and everyone has their limit. I can't blame people for holding "conservative" positions because their worldview was shaped in a different time.

This reminds me - I seem to remember the issue flaring up for like two seconds when it became legal in Hawaii in like 95ish, and then all but completely disappearing from the national landscape for most of a decade afterward before it slowly started pushing back into the mainstream. I always thought it was weird when it was back on the upswing that everyone was acting like it was a brand new idea.

That said, I can't disagree with you here - it's really hard for folks to understand that the political climate hasn't always been the same and that their moral yardsticks don't actually work throughout history, including recent history. See also: Bill's support of the crime bill that passed in large part because of support from leaders in the black community.

Despite what many of the Bernie crowd or far left crowd is saying about Tim Kaine as Hillary's VP pick, he was a good pick. A safe pick, but a good pick.

He's a moderate Democrat that's popular figure in a 2016 swing state. Moderates win elections. And if Hillary can lock down Virginia, the math becomes a lot harder for Trump to win 270 electoral votes, even if he takes Florida.

There are actually electoral college scenarios that Hillary could get to 270+ electoral votes even if she lost Ohio and Florida. She is the favorite in most swing states right now.

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that the party has coalesced around HRC. I'm skeptical of the speculation that Hillary needed to nominate a further left VP pick in order to get more of the Liberal crowd to vote for her. The polling information suggests far left Liberals are overwhelmingly going to vote for Hillary over Trump, anyways.

Lastly, Kaine is likely going to help Hillary do better with Hispanics and Blacks in the South and Whites in the Rust Belt. Trump has more or less already alienated most Hispanic voters, but Hillary's biggest competition with Trump will be for working class Whites in the Rust belt, and this Kaine pick will probably help her do at least a little bit better there.

Trump's pick for Pence was also a good pick for him. He helped solidify his Christian and Conservative bases, and he will help Trump do better in the Rust Belt. Besides Florida, that is the main area of contention for the two candidates - Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania. That is the main geographical battleground this election, and both candidate's VP picks helped them in that aspect as well as in other areas.

agree

also is the sweet white father I never had

he might not pull off aviators as good as a VP should but very likeable

This post was edited by Beowulf on Jul 24 2016 01:25pm

"Clinton camp fears more leaks are coming"

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/289248-clinton-aide-on-email-leaks-i-dont-think-theyre-done

Perhaps stop doing shady things and then you won't get in trouble?

Hillary Clinton has no one to blame but herself if she loses this election. She was handed the easiest opponent ever to run against. A candidate who has ostracized so many voting groups, has had money problems, and whose campaign has been an absolute disaster at times.

If she loses to Donald Trump, then she doesn't deserve to be president. It shouldn't even be a close election. A lot can change in the final months, but she has shown to be a weaker candidate than Democrats initially hoped for. She just brings along so much shit with her. She's very untrustworthy and she's only getting worse in that area.

This post was edited by ThatAlex on Jul 26 2016 06:49pm

Disagree

No candidate pretty much ever has weathered what she has

that requires being a pretty solid candidate

If she loses it's entirely her fault

If she wins she gets no credit because Trump was a plant and the system was rigged against Bernie and blah blah blah