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Tags: Tim Kaine | Progressive | Leanings | Changed | Clinton | VP

Tim Kaine: My Progressive Leanings Have Changed Over the Years

("Good Morning America"/Twitter)

By    |   Thursday, 28 July 2016 08:16 AM EDT

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine Thursday defended his liberal credentials, saying that he's changed his stance on social issues such as same-sex marriage, family values and more over the years.

"I'm a progressive in the south, and that may be different than being a progressive in Vermont or a progressive in Oregon," Kaine told ABC's "Good Morning America" correspondent Robin Roberts. 

Back when Kaine was running for governor of Virginia, he said on a radio ad that he was against same-sex marriage, but "conservative on personal responsibility, character, family, and the sanctity of life."

But in his first year as governor, Kaine said Thursday, Virginia put an issue defining marriage as being between a man and a woman on the ballot, and "the more I listened to it the more I realized I can't be with . . .  so I campaigned against the marriage amendment in '06 and [have] been over on the side of — wait a minute, we can't discriminate against people."

Kaine, who has been a civil rights attorney for several years, told Roberts that when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton asked him to be her running mate, she told him that she knows he's progressive, but "a practical one."

"My goal is to help her win, then help her have a spectacular presidency," said Kaine. "I've been a number two. I've been a lieutenant governor to a great governor, Mark Warner and DNC chair supporting a great president, President Barack Obama, so I know how to be a supporter and I know how to be an advocate for somebody."

Kaine said he'd never expected to reach the point of being considered as a vice presidential nominee.

In his speech at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night, Kaine reached out to former Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, and said he thinks the party is further ahead now when it comes to unifying the party than it was eight years ago, when Clinton ran against Obama.

"They understand who Hillary is and they understand that Donald Trump is a threat to everything that they care about," Kaine said of Sanders' supporters.

He also poked fun at his "horrible impersonation" of Trump during his speech, agreeing with Roberts that "Saturday Night Live" probably won't call him soon.

Kaine agreed that some of the things Trump has said about him are "comical," such as on Wednesday, when the GOP nominee accidentally called him a "lousy governor of New Jersey," during a press conference, but he still thinks the race is a "dangerous one."

Sandy Fitzgerald

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Politics
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine Thursday defended his liberal credentials, saying that he's changed his stance on social issues such as same-sex marriage, family values and more over the years.
Tim Kaine, Progressive, Leanings, Changed, Clinton, VP
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2016-16-28
Thursday, 28 July 2016 08:16 AM
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