Sen. Tim Kaine has been dubbed America’s dad by the cast of SNL, as he is the stereotypical middle-aged, white, suburban man. He is also a man of faith and has no problem expressing that… even in Spanish. This allows him to use faith-focused rhetoric that reinforces the notion that people and voters are often driven by values.
Mr. Gringo
One of Kaine’s greatest strengths as a vice presidential candidate comes from his ability to reach people of faith, especially Latinos who are more likely to share his Catholic faith. Kaine is also a fluent Spanish-speaker, a skill he learned as a missionary in Honduras. His ability to give speeches and conduct interviews in Spanish is a huge asset for the Clinton Campaign, which has been accused of “hispandering.”
A first for a candidate on a major-party ticket, Tim Kaine delivered a full speech in Spanish over the weekend. https://t.co/XKjmLXkAXI
— NPR (@NPR) October 17, 2016
Clinton’s campaign has had a few missteps in her efforts as a white woman to target Latino voters (e.g. “7 Things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela”); however, her choice in a running mate has helped to bridge that gap and alleviate those mistakes. Tim Kaine makes clear that he believes this election has a lot to do with respect and that the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees “have very different opinions on the Latino community.” Although this is not overtly fear-inducing, it does create a sense of worry for Latinos should Donald Trump be elected. Thus, this rhetoric is meant to get Latino voters to the polls in support of Clinton.
In all, Sen. Kaine’s past experiences in Latin America, Catholic faith, and knowledge of the Spanish language, puts him in a better position to target and reach Latinos than Clinton herself. Latinos are clearly an important and growing demographic in the United States and the 2016 election presents immigration as one of the foremost issues to Latinos and their communities. Therefore, Kaine is one of Clinton’s most qualified and best suited surrogates to earn the support of Latino voters (besides Marc Anthony that is).
Photo by: The Clinton Campaign
I agree, Tim Kaine is able to better associate with Latino voters than his running mate Hillary Clinton. I also find it interesting that in the past the republican party has always done such a good job at winning over the Latino vote because of their values as a culture, and now we have this faith oriented, Spanish speaking v.p. candidate who is a democrat. The Clinton campaign seems to have swiped the rug out from under the republican parties’ feet on more than just a sex scandal.