Bill Clinton Said to Back Virginia"s Tim Kaine for Vice President

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Photo Hillary Clinton campaigned with Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, at Ernst Community Cultural Center in Annandale, Va., last week. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

As Hillary Clinton prepares to make her choice for a vice-presidential candidate, Bill Clinton has privately expressed his support for Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, according to three Democrats briefed on the conversations with the former president this week.

Mr. Clinton believes that Mr. Kaine, 58, a former governor and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has the domestic and national security rsum that both appeals to voters and makes him prepared for the presidency.

In an interview with Charlie Rose of PBS on Monday, Mrs. Clinton said she was afflicted with the responsibility gene and would value experience and preparedness over any other calculations in choosing a No. 2.

In recent days, Mrs. Clinton narrowed down her pick, and she is likely to appear with her running mate Saturday at a rally in Florida, though she could announce her choice in advance of the campaign event in a text to supporters.

Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary; Thomas E. Perez, the secretary of labor; and James G. Stravidis, a retired four-star Navy admiral, remain contenders.

On Wednesday, Robby Mook, Mrs. Clintons campaign manager, invited Senator Elizabeth Warrens aides to the campaigns Brooklyn headquarters to discuss how the Massachusetts senator can be helpful in the coming months. That was interpreted by some people with knowledge of the process as a sign that Mrs. Clinton has settled on a choice.

Mr. Vilsack is currently scheduled to appear with Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri in her home state on Thursday and Friday, though he could still cancel.

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People close to Mr. Clinton, who could discuss private conversations only without attribution, said that the former president had left the decision entirely to his wife and that he also has close relationships with Mr. Vilsack and Mr. Perez.

A spokesman for the Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democrats in contact with Mr. Kaine and his associates say their tone has shifted in recent days. After weeks of playing down their prospects of joining the Democratic ticket, the senator and his loyalists are becoming far more circumspect.

In 2008, Barack Obama considered picking Mr. Kaine as his running mate before selecting Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., and on Wednesday the White House signaled that Mr. Obama would support Mr. Kaine on the ticket.

Virginia is a swing state that has been gravitating toward the Democrats in recent elections. In 2008, Mr. Obama defeated John McCain in Virginia by more than six percentage points, marking the first time since Lyndon B. Johnsons victory in 1964 that the state had voted for a Democratic presidential nominee.

An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll from July 15 showed Mrs. Clinton beating Mr. Trump for the states 13 electoral votes by nine percentage points.

Advocates for Mr. Kaine are guardedly optimistic about his prospects, although Mr. Clinton has expressed some hesitation about the Virginia senator because of the risk of losing Mr. Kaines Senate seat to a Republican, according to two Democrats briefed on the deliberations.

Choosing Mr. Kaine could alter the balance of power in Congress should Democrats retake the Senate this year but gain a one-seat majority. While Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia could appoint a Democrat to succeed Mr. Kaine next year, the seat would be up for grabs in a special election that would coincide with the states governor contest in November 2017.

With Republicans typically faring better in such off-off year elections, when turnout dips, Democrats could lose what was Mr. Kaines Senate seat just a year after Mrs. Clinton is sworn in, a political risk both the Clintons have been acutely aware of as they weighed the pros and cons of vice-presidential candidates.

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/politics/tim-kaine-bill-hillary-clinton-vp.html