My VP prediction

A while back, I mentioned on Facebook that I think Hillary Clinton will pick Tim Kaine as her running mate. Today I’m going on record with that pick. I may be proved wrong and will be the first to say so. But I did predict that Biden would be Obama’s pick way back when, so I’ve got that going for me!

Here is my reasoning, along with comparisons to the other two VP front-runners, Elizabeth Warren and Julian Castro. (I’ll leave the Republican prognostications to others. I have no idea what Trump will do. Does anyone?)

One of Hillary’s big arguments against Trump is that she’s got the experience and he doesn’t. (Man, a truer statement was never made!) While Warren would be a good pick to get some of the Sanders supporters on Hillary’s side, there is a portion of them who are already vilifying Warren for endorsing Clinton and campaigning for her. Get a grip, people. I’m just not sure it would do her that much good with the diehard Sanders supporters. Despite Warren’s excellent work on the CFPB and in the Senate, she really doesn’t have that much experience in foreign policy. That is Clinton’s strong suit against Trump. Same goes for Castro. He has some executive experience as Mayor of San Antonio and he’s been a part of President Obama’s cabinet, but he doesn’t have a ton of experience at that level and it’s hard to say, “He’s ready to be President on Day One.”

Kaine, however, has been Mayor of Richmond; Governor of Virginia; he is a current Senator for Virginia; he serves on several committees, including Armed Services and Foreign Relations; he served as DNC chair for two years. If the main criterion for the pick is experience, Kaine gets it.

Did I mention Virginia? Major swing state. Massachusetts is reliably blue so Warren doesn’t help there. Castro’s main ties are to Texas, which is going to stay red. Kaine wins in this aspect.

Massachusetts has a Republican Governor, so he would appoint a Republican to take Warren’s Senate seat. The Democrats really really REALLY want to retake the Senate. Losing a seat by picking Warren would be counterproductive in that goal. (Harry Reid seems to have found a loophole to limit that, but it’s still risky.) Virginia’s Governor, Terry McAuliffe, is a Democrat, and limited to one consecutive term. He can appoint himself to the Senate seat, keeping Kaine’s seat blue.

Hillary has a big advantage over Trump among women. Adding a woman to the ticket will not make much of a difference in that regard. I have heard some reservations about an all-female ticket. I certainly do not share those reservations, but I can see why it might make some people feel kind of oogy. Two powerful women...I know! So scary! ::eye roll:: But yeah, I recognize that it might be too big of a leap for some (unenlightened) folks. I’m also not sure how much chemistry there is between Clinton and Warren. I think Warren will be an enthusiastic and effective surrogate, but the relationship between running mates does matter and can make a difference in the perception of the ticket.

Hillary also has a big advantage over Trump among Hispanics. Because you know...THE WALL. So adding Castro to the ticket isn’t going to provide much of a boost there.

Is Kaine the energetic, dynamic pick? Nope. He admitted on “Meet the Press” this morning that he is “boring.” But if you’ve been watching Hillary Clinton over the years, you know that she is a cautious politician and by no means a firebrand. I think she will go for the cautious pick. That Kaine can deliver a major swing state is a big deal.  

There have been a few other mentions, like Cory Booker. I would love to see him on the ticket! But again, Hillary has no problem with African-Americans, so he doesn’t give her a boost. Sherrod Brown would also be great, but Ohio also has a Republican Governor who would appoint a Republican to his seat. Al Franken? I would love that, too, and Minnesota has a Democratic Governor. But I just don’t quite see her choosing him, although he will be another great surrogate. Unleash your inner, sarcastic comedian a little bit, Senator Franken! Sanders? Not gonna happen.

Kaine is the safest, most logical pick for Hillary. My money is on Tim Kaine.

Mocktober

It’s technically autumn, but it sure hasn’t felt like it lately! I believe we had a frost last weekend, which means that we’re in Indian Summer, and it’s been just beautiful lately. Sunny and temperatures around 80° for most of the week!

We went to the Notre Dame-Air Force game yesterday, and it was so nice we were still able to tailgate before the game. (We probably still will as it gets cooler, but it’s not as much fun. Some people go to elaborate lengths for tailgating, with generators and heaters. We’re strictly small-time.) I stupidly didn’t wear a hat, because I thought I’d be comfortable enough without one. I ended up having to buy another ND hat, and I like this one even better than the one I had, so it worked out okay!

Since we were playing Air Force, we hoped they might have a flyover. I think it’s usually F-18s. We got a bit of a surprise this time. I saw movement up in the sky at the other end of the stadium and said, “Holy crap, that’s a Stealth! They’re doing a Stealth flyover!” Sure enough, as the National Anthem was winding up, here it came, right at us, and towards Touchdown Jesus. I had never seen one in flight before, and it was quite impressive. The crowd went wild!

The game ended up pretty well, too. The Irish dominated, with a final score of 59-33. It wasn’t even as close as that makes it look, because when we were up by 40 points, they cleared the bench and let the second string play. They gave up a couple of touchdowns at the end. Today is just doing some catching up around here, and it’s so nice Ken is going to fire up the grill and we’ll have our last two porterhouse steaks.

Tomorrow is going to be another nice day, and it looks like a good day for a protest march! Cousin Shane, Matt, Doug, and I will be heading downtown to take part in a MoveOn jobs march. This isn’t quite the same as the Occupy marches, but close to it. After that, we’ll stick around downtown and do our part to stimulate the economy by having a late lunch at the Thai restaurant. Recently, Herman Cain (or as Palin likes to call him, ‘Herb’) said that if you’re out of a job or if you’re not rich, don’t blame the banks, don’t blame Wall Street, blame yourself! Really? Really?! Talk about a case of blaming the victim. There are plenty of hard working people who lost their jobs because of the unbridled greed and deregulation of Wall Street operatives, and Cain has the nerve to say that it’s the unemployeds’ fault. Unbelievable. Ken and I have weathered this fairly well (rapping my knuckles on my head), but I will be proud to stand in support of my fellow Americans who have gotten royally screwed by banks and hedge fund managers, and have been told to shut up and take it up the ass, and to smile while it’s happening. And then that weasel Eric Cantor has the gall to say that the Occupy Wall Street protests are un-American, and just a bunch of mobs. Since when is it un-American to peacefully protest when you aren’t pleased with what is happening in the country? Last time I checked, that was in the Constitution. For a bunch of people who claim to love the Constitution so much, they sure don’t seem to like it when others exercise their Constitutionally-mandated rights.

But don’t get me started. [wink]

I have one more beef, and then that will be it for today. You may have heard about the brouhaha that took place this week in the Massachusetts Senate race. Scott Brown is the incumbent, and Elizabeth Warren is leading in the primary to be his Democratic challenger. Several years ago, Brown was the centerfold in Cosmopolitan; not the full monty, but nude except for something strategically placed in front of the ol’ groinage area. In a recent Democratic debate, when asked about how she paid for college, she made the joke, “I didn’t take my clothes off.” Brown was asked about the remark on a radio show, and in response to Warren’s crack, he said, “Thank God.” Then he and the DJ yukked it up a bit.

This bothered me, and yes, I’m going to tell you why. I found it to be a typical male response when they are intimidated or ridiculed by an intelligent woman: make fun of her looks. It strikes me as condescending and patronizing, and somewhat misogynistic. Do I think it’s a huge deal, one that Brown should be tarred and feathered for? No, not really...but as a woman, it bothered me as indicating a deep-seated tendency to marginalize women. Did Warren bring it upon herself with her own joke about it? Yeah, probably, and she chose not to dive any deeper into these murky waters of snarkiness.

Some of my guy friends dismissed it as a tempest in a teapot. The incident really isn’t a huge deal for me, but it did bother me. It reminded me of my first job in Grand Forks, North Dakota. I was up in the ICU and trying to find a place to draw blood on a patient. With all the lines and IVs, it wasn’t an easy task. One of the patient’s doctors, a cardiologist, happened to be in there at the time, and he put his hands around my waist (Bad touch! Bad touch!) and moved me to the side, then said to the (male) patient, “I bet it doesn’t hurt as much when they’re as pretty as this one, eh?”

It was condescending and creepy, dismissive of my education and duties, and incredibly sexist and unprofessional. (Yes, I complained to my manager.) I didn’t find it complimentary at all, and even 25 years later, I remember it quite well. Whether being “complimentary” or derogatory (I’ve had that happen, too...like being told my eyes are so far apart that I look like ET. Oooo, burn! What else ya got, crackuh?), it’s the same demeaning bullshit that women have had to put up with for centuries. When some men are confronted with an intelligent woman, they resort to any means necessary to demean them and put them in their place. You can also bet that any woman who had posed like Scott Brown did would not have a career in politics in this country, and would be portrayed as a whore. Elizabeth Warren is an incredibly smart and capable woman, so Brown demeans her first by ridiculing her Harvard professorship (how awful those Harvard elites are!) and then by implying that she’s a repulsive woman that no one would ever want to see naked. She can take care of herself, I have no doubts about that.

But I feel that I have every right to say, “This bothered me, and here is why.” If you want to dismiss my viewpoint, I suggest you do it without calling me ‘honey’ or asking me to make you a sandwich before we discuss it.