MIAMI — Tim Kaine made his first appearance as Hillary Clinton’s running mate Saturday, taking the stage at Florida International University with the soon-to-be Democratic presidential nominee in bilingual Miami so he could show off his Spanish.
“Bienvenidos a todos,” he said. Turning to Clinton, he added: “We’re going to be companeros del alma.” Soul mates.
The Democratic ticket arrived on Miami time, more than an hour late. They held hands, smiled and waved.
“He is a progressive who likes to get things done,” Clinton said, using the same words she’s used to describe herself. “That’s just my kind of guy, Tim!”
Kaine told the audience of about 5,000 people about his life — and quickly did what running mates have to do: He praised the presidential candidate and attacked her opponent.
“Do you want a ‘you’re fired’ president or a ‘you’re hired’ president?” he said, quoting Donald Trump’s signature reality-TV show line.
Clinton, too, took on Trump, referring to his speech Thursday accepting the nomination and comparing it to the sort of dictators many Miamians fled in their home countries.
“When someone says, ‘I alone can fix it,’” Clinton began, as the audience booed, “that should set off alarm bells, in not just Democrats’ minds but Republicans’, independents’ — people of all ages and backgrounds. That is not a democracy.”
The U.S. had a revolution, she added, “because we didn’t want one man making all the decisions.”
“No one does anything alone.”
Kaine accepted Clinton’s offer to be the candidate for vice president Friday night. The Democratic National Convention, where Clinton and Kaine will be nominated, begins Monday in Philadelphia.
With Kaine unknown to most voters, Clinton’s campaign deliberately introduced him in Florida, the nation’s largest swing state and a place where it hopes his Spanish fluency might make at least a marginal difference with the Hispanic electorate.
Florida voting has been close in recent presidential elections. Kaine could also give Clinton a bump in his home state of Virginia, a Democratic-leaning swing state, though running mates don’t usually give presidential candidates much of an edge.
“I’m trying to get to know more about him,” said Karen Iglesias, a health educator from West Kendall who is of Bolivian descent. “It’s great he speaks Spanish — he’s able to communicate with our community.”
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on Twitter Saturday, derided Kaine as “owned by the banks” and anathema to liberal Democrats who were drawn to Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s primary rival. Trump has made a hard push for Sanders fans; unlike Sanders, Kaine in the Senate has backed President Barack Obama’s proposed Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement with Asia. (So did Mike Pence, Trump’s running mate.)
A couple of Trump fans protested Clinton’s appearance outside the FIU arena.
Clinton’s slogan Saturday was “Stronger Together” — a line that coincidentally matches one recently deployed by the Miami Dolphins. “H-R-C!” yelled the crowd, using the initials for Clinton’s full name.
Clinton is thought to have chosen Kaine, a political centrist, in part because of his national security credentials —he’s a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees — and his years of experience. Kaine, who’s never lost a political contest, was also considered a potential running mate for Obama in 2008.