Clinton debuts Kaine as running mate

The Clinton campaign believes newly-minted running mate Tim Kaine will mobilise Latino voters.

Mr Kaine is a fluent Spanish speaker, and the campaign believes he could help to mobilise Latino voters. Picture: Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images.

Hillary Clinton on Saturday made her debut with newly-minted running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, who quickly opened an attack on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, questioning his temperament and skewering his business record.

Mr Kaine took to the stage with the presumptive Democratic nominee at a rally in Miami and made clear one of his main roles will be aggressively targeting Mr Trump.

Citing Mr Trump’s record as a casino owner in Atlantic City, Mr. Kaine said: “He leaves a trail of broken promises and wrecked lives wherever he goes.”

Sitting behind the stage was Mr Kaine’s wife, Anne Holton.

Mr Kaine is a fluent Spanish speaker, and the campaign believes he could help to mobilise Latino voters. During his address he alternated between English and Spanish, as he talked about immigration, gun violence and other issues.

Mrs Clinton introduced her new running mate, describing him as someone qualified to step in right away and become president.

“Senator Tim Kaine is everything Donald Trump and (GOP vice-presidential nominee) Mike Pence are not,” Mrs Clinton said.

Citing his stance on gun regulation, she said: “Behind that smile Tim has a backbone of steel. Just ask the NRA.”

The rally at Florida International University marked the pair’s first joint campaign appearance. Above the bleachers hung dark blue “Clinton-Kaine” banners. In the audience, supporters waved miniature versions of the signs.

Mrs Clinton made her selection on Friday and called Mr Kaine to tell him about it at 7:30 pm (local time), after speaking at a rally in Tampa, her campaign said.

She had considered at least two dozen potential running mates before settling on the Virginia senator.

She met with some candidates at her home in Washington, D.C. last week, but Mr Kaine was the only one she invited to a second meeting, a private luncheon with her family, Mr Kaine and his wife, a campaign aide said.

Though Mr Kaine could help Mrs Clinton win the battleground state of Virginia, she was swayed by his low-key style and a belief the pair would have a strong rapport, campaign aides said.

One of her confidantes, campaign chairman John Podesta, had told her that the vice president should be someone she’d be pleased to see when he enters the room and she’d want involved in any conversation.

The Kaine selection has drawn opposition from both sides of the political spectrum. Liberals see him as a centrist out of step with Democratic priorities. They worry he is a proponent of free trade agreements that they see as harmful to US workers.

Republicans cast the former Virginia governor, lieutenant governor and Richmond mayor as an establishment figure in the Clinton mold.

At the end of his speech, Mr Kaine and Mrs Clinton hugged. The two then clasped hands and raised their arms together. As Mrs Clinton’s campaign music started up, Mr Kaine’s wife joined the duo on stage.

- Dow Jones newswires