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Hillary Clinton’s selection of a white, male centrist running-mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, signals that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee plans to battle GOP presidential nominee for his most ardent supporters: white males, the angrier the better.
But is that a winning strategy?
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If the progressives who took to social media this weekend are any guide, it does not appear so. With the US mired in a simmering economic discontent, this election, more than any other in recent history, many say, is shaping up to be a binary, racialized, war of narratives, pitting angry white men against disillusioned Latinos, African Americans and working class voters. But white men, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll, favor Trump by 26 percentage points, while simultaneously, Clinton´s main rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, energized the Democrats most reliably liberal base--people of color--with his populist message..
Making matters worse is that Clinton chose Kaine over US Housing Secretary Julián Castro and Labor Secretary Tom Perez, either of who would have been the first Hispanic named to a major party presidential ticket. And, Cory Booker, the African American New Jersey Senator, would have been the first Black vice-presidential pick.
Any of the three, many believe, would have helped Clinton spark more turnout in black and Latino communities, particularly in urban areas of key swing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and perhaps, most critically, Florida.
"What, is she going to out-white Trump, the way her husband out-Republicaned the Republicans?" read one Facebook Post Saturday, referring to the Clinton Administration´s calculated effort to shift the Democratic party to the right. "Remind me again how that worked out for this country."
"Really, her best strategy in this racially-charged atmosphere was to take the bull by the horns, make the case that the Democrats are all that´s standing between the country and a knavish mob of white men, and use that to stimulate turnout among her clearly disaffected base," read another FB post from a Latino in the California Bay Area. "She is not, under any circumstances, going to win over the hearts-and-minds of the embittered white men who rabidly support Donald Trump.
The Clinton campaign seems aware of the challenges even if they don´t seem ready to fully address them, however. Speaking in Florida--a key battleground state--Kaine boasted Saturday of his record on fighting for racial equality, and recounted his courtroom victories in housing discrimination cases while a young Virginia prosecutor.
But the former Virgina Governor has a mixed record from a progressive perspective, supporting corporate-friendly trade pacts such as the Trans AtlanticTrade and Invesmtent Partnership which both Sanders and Trump have denounced, and restrictions on women´s abortion rights. While the mayor of Richmond, Virginia mayor from 1998 to 2001, he endorsed a federal law-enforcement initiative that was widely criticized at the time for its racially disparate impact on young Black men.
Clinton herself has come under fire from Black activists for her past support for tough-on-crime policies of the 1990s that resulted in a surge of the U.S. prison population and heightened tensions between law enforcement and Black communities.
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And by bypassing Latino vice-presidential candidates who would have generated excitement among Latino activists, Kaine’s invocation of his civil rights record, and his decent use of Spanish on the campaign trail, is not fooling Latinos, and just comes across as pandering.Moreover, recent elections, even in presidential years, shows a downward trend in voter turnout, making this election a battle of attrition. Whichever candidate does the best at turning out his base, is likely to win the general election. Trump´s constituency of angry white men appear awfully motivated, some have said.
Kaine’s closeness to Wall Street, previously-backed support for the TPP, and squeamish, conditional support for reproductive rights and gay marriage, also makes Clinton’s choice predictable.
"I know Kaine is Mr. Excitement," read another Facebook post Saturday, "but really, does Hilary WANT to encourage black and brown people to stay home on election day? If she did, she couldn´t have made a finer choice.¨"
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