Transcript
ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:
Joining us now is Tim Kaine, U.S. Senator from Virginia and former Democratic vice presidential nominee. He has called President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw patriotic and has endorsed Vice President Harris as the Democratic nominee. And he's with us now from Portsmouth, Va. Senator Kaine, welcome back to the program.
TIM KAINE: Andrew, great to be with you today. Thanks.
LIMBONG: Were you surprised by President Biden's announcement to drop out of the race today?
KAINE: I had no heads-up that it was coming, but no, I wasn't surprised. When you get an announcement like this, I mean, it is kind of an earthquake because only three presidents before Joe Biden have made this decision that, though I can run again, I'm choosing not to run again - George Washington, President Polk and LBJ. And it - I didn't have any doubt that Joe would make the patriotic call for the country.
LIMBONG: Biden has put his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the ticket. You followed suit by endorsing her. Can you tell me why?
KAINE: I'm a strong supporter of Kamala. We're friends. I think she's done a good job as vice president. The achievements of the Biden administration - leading the American economy out of COVID better than any economy in the world, strengthening alliances, battling for reproductive freedom - these are accomplishments that are Joe Biden's accomplishments, but Kamala has played a major part in them, together with Democrats in Congress. And so if we want to continue and do even more, I think she's the right person.
LIMBONG: You know, there's a recent poll from Emerson College that showed that former President Trump has a lead in the presidential race in your home state of Virginia. Do you think that has anything to do with the fact that Biden has been his opponent, and do you think it'll make a difference with a new candidate?
KAINE: I do. I have done an awful lot of campaigning in Virginia over the years, and a whole lot of campaigning since the beginning of July. We can win Virginia, and I think we will. After having been one of the most reliably red states in the country for 60 or 70 years, we've now won four presidential elections in a row, beginning with Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008. We got to work real hard. We take nothing for granted, but the Biden/Harris campaign has already opened up 17 offices in Virginia. I was at the 17th office opening yesterday. They're working very, very hard. I think this decision creates a lot of emotions, but I think it's going to create a whole lot of energy, particularly when the decision is made about who the party and Kamala Harris would like to be our vice presidential nominee.
LIMBONG: What would you say to the Democratic Party that, I think it's fair to say, if the past few weeks have been any indication, have been struggling to unify in a moment like this?
KAINE: We don't mind having candid conversations and not all saluting and being on the same page. And look, this is nearly unprecedented. This was probably the toughest test of the Democratic Party leadership since the 1944 Democratic Convention, where party leaders knew that FDR was ill, and they decided that they needed to find a vice president who would match up against Stalin in the post-World War II time. And it was a very difficult decision, and you don't make those in a snap. You don't make them easily. You don't make them overnight. So, yes, there were different points of view about what should be done. And I've seen them out in Virginia, and even among my Senate colleagues.
But those discussions are not unhealthy. They're healthy. Sometimes you'd wish they'd be behind closed doors rather than public. But if you're not having those discussions, there's something unhealthy about that. We had a tough discussion. President Biden made a patriotic decision, and now we got our work cut out for us.
LIMBONG: What do you think is going to be your party's biggest challenge now as you get together a campaign for a new candidate with only - what? - like, four months until the election? It's something no candidate has ever had to do before.
KAINE: It's true. People do know Kamala, obviously, as having been vice president, but she doesn't have the profile that a president would have.
LIMBONG: Yeah.
KAINE: So making sure that we have her back and promote that she's been a part of the Biden/Harris accomplishments that we're proud of and then also telling the story of the vice presidential candidate - we have a deep talent pool on the Democratic side. So there's a number of talented officials, governors, House members, senators, some in battleground states, some in states with important Senate races, for example, who could really add a tremendous amount to the ticket and create energy. We need both energy and unity to win, and I believe we have a path to get energy and unity between now and the convention that will enable us to win.
LIMBONG: You know, you were Hillary Clinton's pick for vice president back in 2016.
KAINE: Yep.
LIMBONG: Do you have any advice for whoever becomes the Democratic VP running mate this time?
KAINE: The key is to support your top of the ticket. You know, that's the key. I've looked at the history of these races when I was added to the ticket and realized the vice presidential pick doesn't necessarily do much in the election, except for one thing. If the vice presidential candidate does not vigorously have the back of the nominee - and there has been some instances where that has been the case - then that can hurt the top of the ticket. So the most important thing to do is to - between now and election day, then there's the work that you would do as vice president - between now and election day, make sure you have the back and you're the most loyal defender and promoter of the presidential nominee.
LIMBONG: U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. Senator, thank you so much.
KAINE: You bet. Glad we could do it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SEB ZILLNER'S "SILK") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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