Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine is attracting a lot of attention after being tapped as the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, but there’s still tension in the party.
Hillary Clinton just propelled Virginia’s junior senator into the national spotlight.
And Kaine is already showing his appeal, besides garnering praise from Republicans for being pragmatic, he’s also showcasing his appeal to Latinos.
On Sunday Bernie Sanders said on Meet the Press that he would have preferred Clinton had tapped Elizabeth Warren, and that his politics are different than Kaine’s. Still, northern Virginia Democrat Gerry Connolly says he doesn’t think there’s tension in the party though.
Northern Virginia Democrat Don Beyer says even with progressives holding a large march on downtown Philadelphia on Sunday, reports of schisms in the party are overblown.
“Oh, I’m glad that he did, you know, it was important that the party unify. The last thing that we need as we go into the presidential election are people split, and he certainly had an impact on Hillary Clinton during the election campaign itself, so this is a good thing.”
Beyer was an ambassador before running for Congress and says Clinton shouldn’t have used a private server.
“It certainly wasn’t helpful and I think Ms. Clinton has recognized that it wasn’t helpful at all, but you know, we all make mistakes in the course of our careers and our lives.”
But Beyer says Republican charges that Clinton deserves to be locked in prison are ridiculous.
“And this was not a mean mistake, this may perhaps be driven by the relentless public exposure all those years to be able to have something that was private, you know, it was the wrong thing to do and she certainly, I think she’d be leading by a great deal if it weren’t for that.”
Unlike the Republican convention in Cleveland last week where speakers lashed out at Hillary Clinton more than they praised Donald Trump and which was skipped by dozens of prominent Republicans, Democrats are hoping to show unity this week, according to Virginia Democratic Congressman Bobby Scott.
“Well, Democrats have a candidate that we all can support, that we can be proud of, who can do a good job. I’m not aware of many Democrats who are trying to avoid the convention.”
