I live in Virginia and he barely registers on my radar. I guess I am that ignorant of Virginia politics. Shame on me. CNN and The Washington Post call him popular. Is he? I am much more aware of Mark Warner - I guess because he's been in office longer.
I actually voted for Kaine for governor because I could not stand Kilgore. One thing I liked about Kaine was he campaigned against the death penalty. So when I voted I thought, well, at least he'll do something about that barbarism in Virginia. Except he didn't. At all. People still got executed during his term. I just looked it up. Twelve people were executed on his watch. I wonder if he commuted any sentences or granted any amnesty? Anyway, I remember thinking at the time, thanks for nothing, Kaine.
The other thing I remember about him was that when that vaccination for cervical cancer first came out he was absolutely rabid that it should be forced on young girls (was it ages 12 and up?). I mean the language was scary. I am not an anti-vax person. I vaccinated all my kids, but I am very wary of all the new vaccinations that pop up that seemed to be pushed on us aggressively. And this one is weird. It is to prevent certain types of cervical cancer you can get from an STD.
So that's all I got on Tim Kaine. My impression is he is a big nothing but has those scary totalitarian impulses that Democrats seem to have these days. (Well, Republicans do too! Trump being case in point here. I read somewhere someone said that as the old WWII generation dies away, fascism seems to be on the rise.)
But I must be honest and say I am not the most informed person about Kaine. So I guess I should do a little research.
Fun facts (I'm just learning them, too, so I am also a bad Virginian):
ReplyDelete"As a lawyer, Kaine spent two decades representing poor people who had been discriminated against in housing and employment based on race and disability. He won landmark cases and changed the law regarding fair housing, employment, and representation for minorities – and a lot of that was pro bono.
Kaine taught legal ethics at the University of Richmond School of Law for six years. He was a founding member of the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness.
As Mayor of Richmond Kaine was the first white man in that position in more than ten years, chosen by the majority black city council in no small part for his record fighting for equality and civil rights. Kaine renovated schools in poor neighborhoods and built new ones, he gave tax breaks to projects that directly benefited the city and opposed tax increases that didn’t, he brought back business and jobs, and his policies reduced gun crimes by more than 55%."
He sounds interesting and real. I think that anyone who gets criticized by both sides (by the Left because he's not totally anti-bank and too pro-life, and by the Right because he isn't pro-life enough) is probably complex and nuanced enough to be worth knowing. Supposedly he is bipartisan enough to be well-liked by colleagues on both sides of the aisle. That sounds good to me!
Where did you find this? It reads like pr copy for him! I don't get that he's moderate on abortion. He gets 100% from PP's report card on him. BUT he does sound like he does some very good stuff, plus (and this is most important!) he plays harmonica and loves Bluegrass!!!!!
ReplyDelete"He sounds interesting and real. I think that anyone who gets criticized by both sides (by the Left because he's not totally anti-bank and too pro-life, and by the Right because he isn't pro-life enough) is probably complex and nuanced enough to be worth knowing. Supposedly he is bipartisan enough to be well-liked by colleagues on both sides of the aisle. That sounds good to me!"
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Suburban Correspondent! I think he's pro-life but believe the individual needs to decide, not the government. He seems to be a do-gooder with no skeletons in the closet which is huge. Some say he's boring but I can deal with boring over the likes of Trump!
My problem with the 'individual needs to decide' (and if you are Catholic that means you think the individual gets to decide whether or not to snuff out an innocent child) is that the Democratic party under Obama has been hellbent on using taxes to fund Planned Parenthood and that sort of thing. Where is the concern for the individual there? Why am I forced to pay for other people's abortions? And I would give the Democrats more credit if they are truly allowed people to be pro-life in their party but it is not a tolerant party at all. Under Kaine's position as DNC the Democratic platform became more extreme on abortion not less. At least I don't see any evidence otherwise.. So I call BS on the moderate thing on that particular issue. Mario Cuomo came up with the 'personally opposed' cop out. But in the end I really don't know how much this particular issue matters. We already know that Hillary will pick a very pro abortion, anti-first amendment justice for the SC. So what the hell, it doesn't matter anyway. We are already screwed.
ReplyDeletePro-choice is not necessarily pro-abortion. There's a nuance there that most people miss.
ReplyDeleteIt is an illusionary nuance.
ReplyDelete