http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/kaine-gop-buds-226071 Tim Kaine's Republican fan club
Hillary Clinton's running mate is viewed as a deal-maker, not an attack dog.
By Burgess Everett and Darren Samuelsohn
07/24/16 08:22 AM EDT
MIAMI — Tim Kaine is not going to be an easy target for Republicans. After all, they all but love the guy.
As a rank-and-file Democratic senator, Kaine has shown deal-making tendencies with top GOP lawmakers and an affinity for breaking with his own party that’s earned him respect across the aisle.
Those traits would make him especially valuable as Hillary Clinton’s vice president: the Virginia senator would be her line into Senate Republicans, a direct conduit to a group that’s been extraordinarily reluctant to work with President Barack Obama.
Kaine’s most high-profile achievement is work in the trenches on a bill that allowed Congress a vote on Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Working with more conservative Democrats and deal-cutting Republicans, Kaine’s blessing for the bill helped drive a 98-1 vote in the Senate, effectively forcing Obama to sign it and begin the task of lining up Democrats to support it in a roll call vote.
more
