버지니아 상원의원..중산층 히스패닉 호감
뉴욕=민병옥기자 newsroh@gmail.com
‘힐러리-팀’이 만들어졌다.
민주당 힐러리 클린턴 후보가 팀 케인(Tim Kaine 58) 버지니아 상원의원을 부통령 후보로 영입(迎入)했다. 클린턴 후보가 22일 지지자들에게 문자메시지를 통해 팀 케인 상원의원을 러닝메이트로 확정 발표했다. 공화당의 트럼프-펜스 진영과의 본선 레이스를 펼치게 됐다.
그동안 클린턴 후보는 러닝메이트 인선을 놓고 히스패닉 출신의 토마스 페레즈 노동부장관과 흑인인 코리 부커 뉴저지 상원의원, 제임스 스타브리디스 해군 예비역 4성장군을 놓고 고심해왔다.
뉴욕타임스는 “중산층 출신의 케인 상원의원이 스페인어에 능통한 것으로 알려져 기득권층의 이미지가 강한 힐러리 클린턴 후보의 약점을 보충해주는 카드로 분석된다”고 보도했다.
또한 케인 상원의원이 독립 유권자들과 트럼프를 좋아하지 않는 공화당의 중도 성향 유권자들을 끌어들이는데 도움이 될 것으로 판단하고 있다.
케인 상원의원은 지난주 한인들이 많이 거주하는 버지니아 애난데일에서 가진 클린턴 후보의 유세에서 “여러분은 ‘당신을 해고하는(‘You’re fired’)’ 대통령을 원하는가, ‘당신을 채용하는(You’re hired)’ 대통령은 원하는가? 여러분은 막말을 하는(trash-talking) 대통령을 원하는가, 가교 역할을 하는(bridge-building) 대통령을 원하는가?”라는 연설로 눈길을 끌었다.
미네소타 세인트폴에서 태어난 케인 상원의원은 아버지가 캔사스시티에서 소규모 철물가게를 운영했으며 종교는 가톨릭이다. 예수회 기숙학교와 미주리대를 거쳐 컬럼비아를 졸업한 그는 하버드 로스쿨 재학중 온두라스에서 가톨릭 선교(宣敎)를 위해 휴학했을 때 스페인어를 익힌 것으로 알려졌다.
1994년 버지니아 리치몬드에서 시의원으로 본격적인 정치활동을 시작한 그는 1998년 시장에 당선됐고 2002년 버지니아 주지사대행, 2006년 버지니아 주지사에 당선됐다. 민주당 전국위원회 위원장을 역임했고 2012년 상원의원에 당선됐다.
8년전 버락 오바마와 힐러리 클린턴이 경선 당시 오바마 후보를 지지했던 그는 한때 부통령 후보 하마평(下馬評)에 오르기도 했다.
클린턴은 앞서 미국 공영방송 PBS와의 인터뷰에서 케인 상원의원이 지루한 이미지라고 생각하지 않느냐는 질문에 "그의 그런 점을 사랑한다. 케인은 한 번도 선거에서 지지 않았다"고 답했다.
클린턴-팀 콤지는 히스패닉 인구가 많이 거주하는 플로리다 마이애미에서 주말 첫 공식 유세를 할 것으로 알려졌다.
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Biography Tim Kaine
Tim Kaine has helped people throughout his life as a missionary, civil rights lawyer, teacher and elected official. He is one of 20 people in American history to have served as a Mayor, Governor and United States Senator.
Tim was elected to the Senate in 2012 as a can-do optimist skilled in bringing people together across old lines of party, race or region. In the Senate, he serves on the Armed Services, Budget, Foreign Relations and Aging Committees. He is Ranking Member of the Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee and the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations and Bilateral International Development.
Tim’s Armed Services work focuses on crafting smart defense strategy in a changing world and also enables him to tackle a personal mission – the reduction of unemployment among veterans, especially Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans. His first piece of legislation in the Senate, the Troop Talent Act of 2013, established new standards to help active duty servicemembers attain civilian credentials for military skills to assist their transition into the workforce. In his committee role, Tim has also worked to secure key Virginia priorities in the past three defense bills, including the refueling and overhaul of the Norfolk-based U.S.S. George Washington in the 2015 Authorization and preservation of the U.S. Navy’s 11-aircraft carrier fleet and thousands of jobs across Hampton Roads in the 2016 Authorization.
On Foreign Relations, Tim works to enhance American diplomatic leadership, with a special focus on the Middle East and Latin America. He is a leading voice in efforts to expand the role of Congress on foreign policy and improve the way Congress and the President consult on matters of war, peace and diplomacy. Tim has introduced bipartisan legislation to revise the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and has pushed Congress to finally vote to authorize the ongoing U.S. military action against ISIL. In addition, Tim coauthored the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, establishing the process for congressional review of the diplomatic effort to block any Iranian nuclear weapons program. He is one of the Senate’s few members fluent in Spanish and serves as honorary chairman of the US-Spain Council.
On the Budget Committee, Tim used his experience making tough budget decisions in local and state office in Virginia to help Congress pass a two-year budget agreement in 2013 to offset the worst impacts of sequestration that had disproportionately impacted the Commonwealth. As a harsh critic of sequestration and an advocate for biennial budgeting, Tim strongly supported the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 for continuing to scale back sequestration cuts and providing for two more years of budgetary certainty.
Tim is a founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, which focuses on improving access to CTE programs to ensure that students of all ages are prepared with the skills they need for the jobs of the 21st century. Many of his proposals to advance CTE were included in the 2015 re-write of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Tim also supports expanding economic opportunity through infrastructure investment, immigration reform and smart strategies to expand affordable health care access.
In the 114th Congress, Tim has introduced many pieces of important legislation for Virginia, including a bill to recognize six Virginia Indian tribes. Inspired by a discussion he had with advocates for sexual assault survivors at the University of Virginia, Tim championed successful legislation to encourage public secondary schools to teach students about how to prevent dating violence and sexual assault. And after numerous discussions with recovering addicts, families, medical professionals and law enforcement officials about the growing opioid epidemic in Virginia, Tim introduced legislation to increase access to life-saving overdose medication and prevent drug-related deaths.
In the 113th Congress, Tim introduced legislation to preserve the Commonwealth’s historic Civil War battlegrounds, which President Obama signed into law. He also worked to pass bipartisan legislation to expand pediatric cancer research at the National Institutes of Health in honor of Gabriella Miller, a young girl from Leesburg, Virginia who lost her battle with brain cancer in October 2013.
Tim has focused closely on climate change and its effects on Virginia, especially sea level rise and flooding. In 2014, he co-hosted a bipartisan conference that brought together policymakers, experts and regional stakeholders to discuss strategies to combat the threat that these challenges pose to Hampton Roads.
Tim grew up working in his father’s ironworking shop in Kansas City. He was educated at the University of Missouri and Harvard Law School and started his public service career by taking a year off from Harvard to run a technical school founded by Jesuit missionaries in Honduras. After law school, he practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, specializing in the representation of people who had been denied housing due to their race or disability. He also began teaching part-time at the University of Richmond in 1987.
Tim was first elected to office in 1994, serving as a city councilmember and then Mayor of Richmond. He became Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2002 and was inaugurated as Virginia’s 70th Governor in 2006.
Tim is married to Anne Holton, who currently serves as Virginia Secretary of Education. A former legal aid lawyer and juvenile court judge, Anne previously ran Great Expectations, a program for more than 500 foster children attending Virginia community colleges. Tim and Anne revel in the adventures of their three grown children and live in the same Northside Richmond neighborhood where they moved as newlyweds more than 30 years ago. Tim loves reading, being outdoors and playing harmonica with bluegrass bands throughout Virginia.
