A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Vice President Kamala Harris has less than a week to announce her running mate. That's because the Democratic National Committee wants to finalize its ticket by August 7 to avoid potential legal disputes over ballot eligibility in Ohio. Now, possible contenders are governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota, also Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
At this stage of the race back in 2016, the first woman to become a major party's presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, was announcing her choice for VP.
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HILLARY CLINTON: Please join me in welcoming the next vice president, my friend, Senator Tim Kaine.
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MARTÍNEZ: Clinton-Kaine ticket did not win, but Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia remembers that run-up well. He joins us now. Senator, so what were those final few days like for the candidates being considered for VP? What were you thinking?
TIM KAINE: Well, it was a really magical time, to go back eight years ago, and I had been vetted for vice president by Senator Obama in '08 as well. So the last couple of days, you're aware that there's a very long list and that it is progressively shrinking. I think it was nearly 40 people in 2016, and then it's 20, then 10, then five. And as long as they keep talking to you, you know you are on the list.
But in 2016, what the Clinton team said was, we'll find you, wherever you are. Don't change your schedule. Just do what it is you're doing. And I was doing - at the invitation of a fellow senator, Jack Reed, I was doing an event with him in Rhode Island. And they pulled me into the back room of a marina, where I was surrounded by, like, the water dispensers that - you know, that have the 50-gallon water drum.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, yeah.
KAINE: And I was pulled back there to take the phone call from Hillary. So it was...
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
KAINE: ...A whirlwind. But they kept it very much under wraps till right at the end.
MARTÍNEZ: You mentioned how, as long as they keep talking to you, you know you're still in it. In '08, it was you and Joe Biden. You were the final two. Did you know that it was two left at that time?
KAINE: I did. I had an interview with then-Senator Obama. They, you know, flew me out to an undisclosed location in Indiana where he was doing campaigning events, and we sat and talked for a couple of hours. And he basically said, you know, you're my heart pick. Joe Biden's my head pick. Sometimes I go with my heart. Sometimes I go with my head. And I think it was two days later that Russia invaded Georgia. And I thought, you know, I'd go with my head if I were you.
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KAINE: But I had been on the campaign from very early, and the most important thing was for him to win.
MARTÍNEZ: You didn't tell - so you didn't tell Senator Obama to listen to his heart? There's a song by Roxette, the '80s band, that goes, listen to your heart.
KAINE: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: You didn't want to tell him to listen to his heart?
KAINE: Well, I didn't call and tell him, listen to your head.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
KAINE: But when he told me that was the pick, I sort of knew when that invasion happened.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
KAINE: I just felt like - I'm smart enough in politics to know that the smart play would be to put the guy on who's the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And that's what he did, and that was the right pick.
MARTÍNEZ: Senator, how do you manage, though, the line between expressing interest in a job and not sounding like you're coming on too strong?
KAINE: Really important. I mean, I will say in both '08 and 2016, I did not ask a single person to make a call or do anything on my behalf to urge Senator Obama and Secretary Clinton to pick me, because I felt like the right thing was for them to reach a decision that they felt comfortable with and not feel pushed.
MARTÍNEZ: Who do you think Vice President Harris should pick?
KAINE: Well, I think she's going to have multiple candidates who get over all the hurdles of vetting, who would add a lot to the ticket. But then it really does have to be, once you're there, who's going to help you win? And even more importantly, who can be that friend - very candid behind closed doors and completely supportive out in the open? And that's a personal vibe and chemistry call. And every indication...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
KAINE: ...Is that Kamala's taking that very, very seriously.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Democratic senator and former vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine of Virginia. Senator, thanks.
KAINE: Glad to be with you. Thanks.
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