IT'S OFFICIAL : HILLARY's VP DECISION : Sen. Tim Kaine and former Gov. of Virginia The One? #RulaBrownNetwork

Friday, July 22, 2016 - Excerpt from Huffingtonpost  By ANNIE KARNI

Hillary Clinton’s veepstakes is ending the way it began: with the humble-but-sturdy Tim Kaine sitting at the top of her list.

After an extensive, months-long process during which the campaign considered a host of different options -- even vetting a serious candidate from outside the political arena -- the squeaky-clean Virginia senator, whose biggest liability to emerge was that he was boring, is emerging as Clinton's top choice. But the formal announcement of her running mate -- which was expected to come in a text message to supporters Friday -- was clouded by reports that one or more shooters attacked the largest shopping mall in Munich, Germany, killing at least six people and wounding others.

Tim Kaine & Hillary Clinton

“Monitoring the horrific situation in Munich,” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee tweeted Friday, stamping her post with “-H.” “We stand with our friends in Germany as they work to bring those responsible to justice.”

Kaine has been urged along by two men familiar with the demands of the job: President Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton, those close to the process say.

And after Donald Trump’s somewhat more polished performance Thursday night, even Democrats who had been pushing for a flashier choice like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren or New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker were sobered by the challenging four months ahead. “After last night, she needs to make the safest choice possible,” said a former senior White House aide.

“Safe” seems to be Kaine’s middle name. The Spanish-speaking former missionary and onetime swing-state governor sits on both the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees in the Senate. And while the Warren-Sanders wing of the Democratic Party may object to some of his positions on trade and Wall Street regulation, Kaine rarely takes controversial stands or makes painful gaffes, thus fulfilling the Hippocratic oath for vice presidential nominees: First, do no harm. Kaine, for all the buzz about his chances, has been deeply self-effacing during the awkward public tryout process. When asked during a “Meet the Press” interview last month if he was ready to be president, he said no. "Nobody should ever say they’re ready for that responsibility, because it is so, so huge,” he said in what some saw as a tacit rebuke of Warren, who answered confidently that she is ready to be commander in chief when asked the same question by Rachel Maddow.

But Kaine's humble, vanilla persona endeared him to Clinton. “I love that about him,” she told CBS News’ Charlie Rose in an interview earlier this week when grilled about whether he was too boring. Added Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close confidant of the Clintons who has been pushing for his home-state senator: “If anything, he’s only helped himself through this entire process.”

In addition to McAuliffe, President Obama and Bill Clinton have also privately or publicly expressed their support for Kaine, who was passed over for the No. 2 slot in 2008. Earlier this week, White House press secretary Josh Earnest, unprovoked, told reporters that Kaine was someone Obama believes would be a good pick for Clinton. “Senator Kaine was one of the first public officials to announce a public endorsement of Senator Obama,” he said. “Senator Kaine served as the chair of the DNC during President Obama’s first year in office, and Senator Kaine is somebody that the president deeply respects.”

Bill Clinton, who has been deeply involved in the process, had also been pushing for two people, but ultimately “Tim is his first choice,” said a source close to the former president. “The advice he gives is much more: Here are the issues you’re going to have; here’s why you need this person. It’s more from experience.” more