Progressive group changes tone on Kaine

A group that criticized Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as not being progressive enough is quickly warming up to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s new running mate after he opposed a controversial trade deal and publicly backed debt-free college.

{mosads}The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) Saturday praised Kaine for bucking President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, which he had previously supported.

“Kaine’s actions are most significant when viewed as a reflection of how Hillary Clinton will govern. The mood of the country is a populist one. We’re glad to see the Clinton-Kaine ticket taking steps to campaign on big, bold, populist ideas that voters want to hear from Democrats,” Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the group, said in a statement. 

“As [Republican presidential nominee] Donald Trump runs hard against Democrats on trade, the next big thing Hillary Clinton could do to win over blue-collar swing voters is push the White House to take TPP off the table in a lame duck Congress,” she wrote.

“This would remove any doubt about the Democratic ticket’s commitment to opposing the TPP and would allow for Democratic unity before and after the election.”

Shortly after Clinton announced Kaine as her running mate Friday, the PCCC said the choice would open up Democrats to attacks on the issue, specifically with Trump, who has bashed the TPP and other trade deals as the GOP’s nominee.

Trump already hit Kaine on his support for the TPP, saying he had been “pushing hard” to get the “job killer” through Congress. 

But a spokeswoman for Kaine told Politico Saturday that the Virginia senator agreed with Clinton that the deal “fell short” when it came to protecting wages and national security and would soon publicly oppose it. 

Kaine supported the deal as recently as last week, saying, “I see much in it to like.

“I think it’s an upgrade of labor standards. I think it’s an upgrade of environmental standards. I think it’s an upgrade of environmental standards. I think it’s an upgrade of intellectual property protections,” he said.

Kaine also said he believed the deal should get a vote in Congress, while Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the chances of that are “pretty slim.” 

Another progressive group, Democracy for America, had similar concerns, saying Friday that Kaine’s stance would “make our work more difficult” in defeating Trump.