Trump was wrong: Kaine is a liberal in a moderate’s clothing

When Hillary Clinton first announced her choice of Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate, Donald Trump sent out a Tweet saying “the Bernie Sanders supporters are furious with the choice of Tim Kaine, who represents the opposite of what Bernie Sanders stands for.”

Not knowing Kaine (who is little known by most voters, even in his home state), Trump can be excused for believing the press reports. USA Today called Kaine a “swing-state moderate,” CNN claimed Kaine is “more moderate than the liberal strain driving today’s Democratic Party” and Financial Review labeled Kaine a “well-liked swing-state moderate.” And the list goes on.

{mosads}The actual record stands in stark contrast to the myth Kaine has built around himself. It all started with his successful 2005 campaign for Governor of Virginia when he appeared in a TV ad saying:

The truth is I cut taxes as mayor of Richmond. I’ll enforce the death penalty as governor and I’m against same-sex marriage. I’m conservative on personal responsibility, character, family and the sanctity of life. These are my values and that’s what I believe.

But not for long. Seven years later, he was elected to the US Senate and immediately began compiling a record to the left of every other Member of Congress, including Bernie Sanders. No, this is not a misprint. Tim Kaine is the only Member of Congress — House or Senate — to compile a “zero” lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union.

The roster of liberal luminaries who don’t measure up to Kaine’s record of left-wing perfection includes Elizabeth Warren, Barbara Boxer, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and even former Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Whatever else might be said of this herd of liberals, they earned their left-wing stripes honestly. Tim Kaine, on the other hand, has had more twists and turns than a Shenandoah mountain trail.

As you can tell from his ad in 2005, Tim Kaine has spent most of his political career trying to appear to be all things to all people which has produced so many contradictions that the term “flip-flopping” just doesn’t suffice.

Take, for example, the issue of guns.

• Early Tim Kaine (while mayor of Richmond):  was a champion of gun control and used taxpayer funds to rent buses to send gun-control advocates to a rally in Washington.

• Later Tim Kaine (while running for governor):  proclaimed on his website, “Tim Kaine strongly supports the Second Amendment. As the next governor, he will not propose any new gun laws.”

• Current Tim Kaine (as Hillary Clinton’s running mate): said he will take on the NRA and is proud that the gun-rights organization has opposed him in every statewide race.

Then there’s the issue of life. Kaine said that, as a Catholic, he believed in the sanctity of life. Yet, his votes in the Senate are indistinguishable from the leading advocates of abortion on demand, such as Barbara Boxer. Even on the issue of curbing abortions after five months of pregnancy, Kaine voted with the most extreme faction of the pro-abortion camp.

Perhaps as a parent who believes in the sanctity of life, Kaine would support parents being notified when their child is transported out of state to get an abortion. Don’t bet on it. Kaine voted against that resolution in 2013.

How about taxpayer funding of abortions?  Kaine previously said he supports the “Hyde” amendment, a provision in every congressional spending bill since 1976 that prevents direct taxpayer funding of abortions. Right after the vice presidential pick was announced, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook proclaimed that Kaine had flipped to Hillary’s position. But Kaine then did a curious thing: he contradicted Mook and proclaimed he had always supported taxpayers financing of abortions.   

Despite Texas liberal icon Jim Hightower’s admonition that “there’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow lines and dead armadillos,” many politicians covet the “moderate” tag, but real moderates have been harder and harder to find as the Democrat leadership has aggressively forced Blue Dog Democrats into retirement.   

We do, however, know what a moderate Democrat looks like.  We need look no further than Michael Dukakis’s vice presidential running mate, Lloyd Bentsen. Senator Bentsen earned a lifetime ACU rating of 40.5%. While not as strong as Bentsen, at least the four subsequent Democrat vice presidential nominees (Al Gore, Joe Lieberman, John Edwards and Joe Biden) earned double-digit ratings on the ACU scorecard. But, surprisingly, Bentsen’s ACU rating is more closely aligned with Republican Vice President Dan Quayle’s than it is to Tim Kaine’s.  

Tim Kaine’s 0% ACU rating ranks him the most extreme liberal in all of Congress, but the bigger difference between Kaine and his liberal allies is not in their political philosophy. The more significant difference is that the others can be trusted to mean what they say; the same cannot be said of Tim Kaine. He’s the perfect running mate for Hillary Clinton.