Tim Walz Is Tim Kaine 2.0

If I ask you what you remember about the 2016 presidential campaign, what comes to mind? Perhaps the shock, late on Election Night, as that New York Times needle didn’t flip toward a Hillary Clinton victory but kept inching closer and closer to a projection of Donald Trump becoming the 45th president. Or perhaps you first remember Trump bulldozing his way through the GOP primaries. Or maybe you most vividly recall Trump’s “because you’d be in jail,” quip during the debate, or the Access Hollywood tape, or the late revelations from then–FBI director James Comey.

My guess is you don’t remember much about Tim Kaine. In fact, you may have forgotten that the Virginia senator was Hillary Clinton’s running mate. The 2016 election was immensely consequential, discussed to death, debated to death . . . and yet the Democratic running mate amounted to an afterthought, or a footnote.

About the Author

Jim Geraghty

Jim Geraghty is the senior political correspondent of National Review.

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If I ask you what you remember about the 2016 presidential campaign, what comes to mind? Perhaps the shock, late on Election Night, as that New York Times needle didn’t flip toward a Hillary Clinton victory but kept inching closer and closer to a projection of Donald Trump becoming the 45th president. Or perhaps you first remember Trump bulldozing his way through the GOP primaries. Or maybe you most vividly recall Trump’s “because you’d be in jail,” quip during the debate, or the Access Hollywood tape, or the late revelations from then–FBI director James Comey.

My guess is you don’t remember much about Tim Kaine. In fact, you may have forgotten that the Virginia senator was Hillary Clinton’s running mate. The 2016 election was immensely consequential, discussed to death, debated to death . . . and yet the Democratic running mate amounted to an afterthought, or a footnote.