ELECTIONS 2016

Analysis: Hillary Clinton goes with her heart in choosing Tim Kaine as her running mate

Susan Page
USA TODAY

CLEVELAND — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump don't share much, but when it came down to picking a running mate, they made similar choices — albeit with opposite rationales.

Clinton's announcement that she had chosen Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine for the Democratic ticket in some ways was a parallel to Trump's choice of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence last week: Highly respected, well-liked and low key (OK, some say boring) politicians who have served both in statehouses as governor and in Washington as members of Congress. Both have three children, including a son in the Marines.

But Trump said he settled on Pence — over two finalists with whom he had closer relationships, Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich — because he would help unite his divided party. A fiscal and social conservative, Pence reassures the right that Trump can be trusted.

On the other hand, Clinton settled on Kaine — over more provocative options such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — even though he risks exacerbating the divisions in her party.

6 things to know about Tim Kaine

The progressives who had backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and his unexpectedly strong challenge to Clinton in the Democratic primaries had urged her to choose a running mate that would reassure the left on issues such as trade deals and Wall Street regulation. That could have been Sanders or Warren or Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Some Democrats also lobbied for a running mate with more of a spark, someone who might strengthen her standing with Millennial voters who tell pollsters they are repelled by Trump but not yet attracted to Clinton. That could have been a younger choice, perhaps one who offers racial diversity, such as New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker or Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro.

While Clinton's vetting process included a range of options, Kaine always had the best odds.

For starters, he's a white man, a demographic group that now supports Trump. He's a devout Catholic, a former missionary and a fluent Spanish speaker. He has some national-security credentials as a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees. Kaine's possible election as vice president wouldn't turn his Senate seat over to a Republican; Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe would make that appointment.

But while Kaine is no conservative, he's a relative moderate who has supported some trade deals, to the dismay of many on progressives. Picking him reflects Clinton's confidence that she already has the help she needs to unite her party: Trump.

Who is Tim Kaine? A closer look at the Virginia senator

And HIllary Clinton likes Kaine. So does Bill Clinton.

If she wins in November, Hillary Clinton's vice president will need to be comfortable dealing not only with the current president but also with the past one, although Bill Clinton's precise role in a second Clinton administration isn't yet clear.

In a more limited way, Bill Clinton's vice president, Al Gore, had to figure out how to negotiate with and around a First Lady who had a powerful and unprecedented role in the first Clinton administration.

Having seen more than one White House operation up close, Hillary Clinton understands more than most presidential candidates the value of having a vice president she can trust, and she chose one as much for his assistance in governing as for his help in getting elected. Trump's conventional choice, rather than picking an Hispanic, for instance, also helped cleared the way for Clinton to make a similarly conventional choice.

But in his case, Trump was going with his head. Clinton was going with her heart.