Tim Kaine Pledges Support for Hillary Clinton in 2016
Senator Tim Kaine has joined a growing list of top Democratic Senators who are ready for Hillary Clinton.
During a speech Saturday morning at a South Carolina Women's Democratic Council breakfast, the Virginia Senator will pledge his support for former Secretary of State Clinton should she decide to run for president in 2016, saying she is the "best person to be our 45th president," according to excerpts of his prepared remarks.
Kaine, a former chairperson of the Democratic National Committee and former governor of Virginia, a swing state, will also announce that he has joined "Ready for Hillary," the SuperPac encouraging Clinton to run - and will urge others to do the same.
According to his remarks, Kaine will call on Democrats to "pledge your support right now so that Hillary Clinton will know that, should she take this step, there are millions of us ready to take the field with her and make sure she wins."
In 2006, Kaine endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama over Clinton in the presidential primary, which he acknowledges in his prepared remarks.
"I made my decision early because I knew something-he was the right person for the job but getting there would be hard," he says of his early support for Obama.
For the "same reason," Kaine says, he is giving an early endorsement to Clinton, citing the extra challenges women face to "achieve top leadership spots in this country."
Kaine joins a growing group of Democratic senators who have urged Clinton to run in 2016.
Both New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill publicly announced their support for a Clinton campaign last year. And in October it was revealed that every one of the 16 female Democratic senators signed a secret letter to Clinton encouraging her to run.
The letter included a signature from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who despite speculation has repeatedly insisted she will not be running for president herself in 2016.
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Tim Kaine Pledges Support for Hillary Clinton in 2016