Tim Kaine

Stronger Together: Lessons Learned from 2016

by Kevin Kelton

Scholarly books will be written about the 2016 election. And like everything in history, from the Civil War to the cause of world wars, there will never be *one* singular reason for the way things worked out. But I am more convinced than ever that the major reason Hillary Clinton lost was her choice for a running mate.

Hillary should have chosen Bernie Sanders. I believe that together, they would be in the White House today. And we’d be watching a very different State of the Union tonight.

Don’t get me wrong. I respect Sen. Tim Kaine and acknowledge he did help deliver the critical 13 electoral votes from his home state of Virginia – not a small feat for a vice presidential candidate. In most other years, that would be considered delivering the goods for a running mate.

But 2016 was not most years. So I am writing this now because I don’t want to see another Democratic nominee make the same error ever again.

The fatal mistake Clinton made, and lots of political novices make, is thinking that the vp choice is about governing. It’s been said that Clinton felt she could have a good working relationship and governing partner in Kaine. Maybe she would have.

But running for president is not about governing. It’s about winning. You don’t get to govern after you’ve made a concession speech. I believe not tapping Sanders cost Clinton millions of votes, and tens of thousands in the critical swing states where she fell short by a whisker.

Choosing a presidential running mate is about building coalitions. It always has been, since George Washington chose John Adams, and through Lincoln-Johnson to Kennedy-Johnson to Reagan-Bush. Even Clinton’s husband Bill knew in 1992 he needed to pair his small state Washington “outsider” image with a member of the more entrenched D.C. establishment class that barely knew him (hence picking Sen. Al Gore).

In 2016, the big fissure in the Democratic party was not about geography or generational balance or insider-outsider status. It was about the divide between the wings of the party. The progressive left wing had demonstrated its strength and the power of its movement by bringing dark horse populist Bernie Sanders within striking distance of the nomination. They had earned a seat at the table, just as Sanders himself had. A unity ticket would’ve said more about Hillary and the party than any geographic or class-based balance that Kaine had to offer.

And of course, Sanders’ rockstar power would have ignited the party base. Imagine Hillary and Sanders barnstorming the nation to packed arenas of 20,000 screaming fans. It would have neutralized Trump’s free media advantage and the impact of seeing his giant rallies every day on cable news. A Clinton-Sanders ticket would’ve been worth half a billion dollars in free media. And it would’ve robbed Trump of many of his best talking points.

For those who will counter, but Hillary and Bernie could not have governed effectively together if elected, I say nonsense. A president gets to choose her Cabinet, her Chief of Staff, her National Security Advisor, and pretty much every major executive branch position. She doesn’t need a pal as vp. John Kennedy worked just fine with his political nemesis and polar opposite, Lyndon Johnson. (Yes, they actually did work well together.) Eastern elitist George Bush blended in just fine with the western common man Ronald Reagan and team. And Dwight Eisenhower certainly wasn’t hampered by not having a golfing buddy in Richard Nixon.

To those who say Bernie is more effective as a senator than he could have been as Hillary’s vice president, I say, look around. How “effective” do you think he is today?

I passionately supported HRC. I’m still proud of the campaign she ran and the vote I cast. But I will always believe she made a critical mistake in not choosing Sanders (or liberal darling Sen. Elizabeth Warren) to help close the deep fissures burning in her party. Like the Great Depression for Herbert Hoover and Vietnam for Johnson, history judges people based on their biggest mistake. Not picking Bernie Sanders was Hillary’s Vietnam, worse than the email scandal or not going to Wisconsin. A Hillary-Bernie ticket would’ve garnered enough extra votes to deliver Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania (and probably Iowa too). And the nightmare of the Trump presidency would’ve been just that: a bad dream.

Democrats in 2020 would be wise to remember that our party is always stronger together. So hold your fire in the circular firing squad of the primary season. Keep your mind and your options open. Let’s not devour our own and lose sight of our much more dangerous common enemy. Unseating Donald Trump and Mike Pence from power will take more than their historically low approval numbers. We need a ticket that joins and balances both wings of our party to maximize our voter turnout.

We are liberals. We are compassionate. Our cause is just. And we are only strong when we all stand together.

Hillary’s Unforced Errors: Confessions of a Clintonista

As a diehard Hillary Clinton supporter, I was sure she was going to win. I was wrong. But along the way, even I — a Kool-Aid drinking Clintonista — saw some things that I thought she should have done differently to increase her chances of victory. And while I don’t claim to be smarter than her legions of campaign experts, even an arm-chair quarterback can sometimes out-think an NFL coach.

So with all due respect to her campaign strategists and Clinton herself, here are some of her unforced errors that I believe may have cost her the presidency… Read More

Trump Triumph

The post-election episode of The More Perfect Union podcast covers the emotional twists and turns of election night, a post-mortem of what went wrong for the Clinton campaign, and a look at Trump’s Contract with the American Voter for his first one hundred days.

Like what you heard? Subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a podcast! And don’t forget to Rate and Review us on iTunes.

If you like talking politics, join us on Facebook in OPEN FIRE, our political group where you can discuss news and politics with Kevin, D.J., Greg, Emily, Cliff, and lots of other smart, fun people.

The Kaine-Pence Cage Match


On this episode of “The More Perfect Union” podcast, the gang reviews the vice presidential debate between Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Gov. Mike Pence, and how it might affect the final five weeks of the presidential campaign. The guys also discuss how law and order issues will play in with minority voters, and they talk about their own taste in print journalism and TV news.

Like what you heard? Subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a podcast! And please don’t forget to Rate and Review us on iTunes.

Show Me That Voter

by Kevin Kelton

Show me that voter. Show me that guy who is now thinking, “Hm…I was going to vote for Hillary Clinton. I prefer her positions and her values, and I think she’d make a better president than Donald Trump. But now that she might be in less-than-perfect health, I think I have to vote for Trump. Because, should Hillary die in office, God forbid that Tim Kaine becomes president!”

Really? Do you really think that voting logic exists? I mean, sure, I guess in a country of 330 million people, there might be a handful of voters – even several dozen – who could come to that warped conclusion. Because any crazy thing you can think of will probably occur to some idiot someplace.

But really, does anyone in the news media or in politics really think that there is a treasure trove of leaning-Hillary voters out there who would have to toss a coin to decide whether to vote for Donald Trump or Tim Kaine?!

Read More

Hillary’s Health Scare

This is episode 51 of the “A More Perfect Union” podcast series. Hosts D.J. McGuire, Greg Matusak, Emily Brewer, Cliff Dunn, and Kevin Kelton discuss Hillary Clinton’s 9/11 health scare, Donald Trump’s performance at the Commander-in-Chief forum, Matt Lauer’s lousy job as moderator of that forum, and Gary Johnson’s Aleppo gaffe.

Check out this episode!

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Trump’s Gold Medal Gaffes

Segments:

Olympic games politics

Obama’s very good day in Syria

Trump’s week of gold medal gaffes

Funny business at The Clinton Foundation

Will Gary Johnson make the debates?

Jill Stein courts Sanders voters

 

Bye-Bye, Debbie Downer

Segments:

Republican Convention post-mortem

Trump’s speech

Citizen (Tim) Kaine

Debbie Downer gets dumped

Democratic Convention preview

 

Unconventional Convention

Segments:

Emily goes to Cleveland

Who is Mike Pence and why should we care?

Warren or Kaine: Who will get Hillary’s rose?

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