Let Me Help You Know Tim Kaine

   Picture this. 

   

   A little 14 year old girl with big round glasses who is often found with her nose in a book walking the halls of Salem High School. Picture her being approached by her friend, Lucas, who founded the school's Young Democrats club asking her to join a few times over when she's just grown into her Democratic ideology. He did not succeed until January when he invited her to an event for some guy who might be running for Governor, but the reason she went was because she would get out of classes for a bit. 

Fire Station No. 1 in Roanoke, VA

   That little 14 year old girl was me and that guy was Tim Kaine. That was January of 2005 at Fire Station No. 1 in Roanoke, VA. When we got there we were wearing our Salem High School Young Democrats shirts that said Tim Kaine for Governor on the back and we fliered downtown Roanoke letting people know about the event. We got back to the venue and were shepherded to front and center positions in front of the stage. I remember watching two men walk on to the stage once the room had filled up. One I recognized. It was our, at the time, current Governor, Mark Warner. I was a bit awestruck. But the person who spoke to us was someone else. I had never heard of him, but he was our Lieutenant Governor, Tim Kaine. That day Tim Kaine announced he was running for Governor of Virginia and spoke on the issues close to his heart. That little 14 year old girl saw a man she could believe in to make my home state, the great Commonwealth of Virginia, better than it was. She decided then and there that she would fight to elect him. When his speech was over and Tim Kaine and Mark Warner walked the rope line in front of the stage and I got to shake his hand. It was also the first time I appeared on television in a political setting. Something that has happened many more times since. 

Campaign Event in Roanoke, VA circa 2005

   Over the next 11 months, that group of Young Democrats and I worked every week phonebanking and canvassing and attending events in Salem and Roanoke, VA to elect Tim Kaine Governor, Leslie Byrne Lieutenant Governor, and Criegh Deeds Attorney General. I, to this day, can quote the message I would leave on people's voicemails (back when we still did that) asking them to vote for these three Virginia Democrats. Tim was always so gracious with us. Always excited to see us at events and telling his organizers to get us pizza, take us bowling, or to dinner on his dime. Seeing Tim work a crowd is a real treat because he approaches everyone like his oldest friend and makes each and every person feel he understands them. By Election Day that year, I was convinced that he was what Virginia needed to follow Governor Mark Warner. That day, I was at the Salem/Roanoke Watch Party. I was 15 years old by then and probably the youngest person in the room. I watched as precinct my precinct and county by county Virginia elected Tim Kaine its governor. Never before had I felt the feeling I felt that night. That night I learned that I had the power to make a real difference, even if I couldn't vote for myself yet. 

   My time with Tim Kaine did not end there. He invited my Salem Young Democrats to send four of our members to his Inauguration, which that year would be in Williamsburg for the first time in likely over 100 years. Because of the hours we put in myself, my friend, Amy, and our President Lucas and Vice President Leslie went that January. It was an amazing experience. A full year after it all began we saw the fruits of our work and it was inspiring. 

Governor Tim Kaine inaugurated in Williamsburg, VA in the rain

   When I talk about Tim Kaine and try to explain him to people I often say he's the soccer dad you want to drink a coffee with. He has this disarming quality that just makes everyone comfortable around him. Any time I see him he's hugging and shaking people's hands and, normally, he is dressed as casually as his handlers will let him be. He is the most sincere politician I have ever met and I have met a few at this point. My highest praise to any politician or candidate is if I say they remind me of Tim. He is the top for me. 

   While Tim Kaine was Governor he brought my school's government and political clubs to Richmond for a tour and he introduced us to this guy, Jim Webb, who was running for Senate and told him to "get these kids involved. They helped me win my race." I watched him deal with tragedies like the shooting at Virginia Tech, an event that had my high school under lock down and our teachers allowing cell phones to be out and on. He brought our whole state together and began to fight for those affected by that day.  He worked tirelessly to help people in every way. 

   When Tim Kaine ran for Senate in 2012, I had just finished college and my first job was on President Obama's re-election campaign. I was ecstatic that I would get to not only talk to voters about the first President I ever voted for, but the man that excited me about politics in the first place. I remember watching the results with my region in a cramped hotel room in Chesapeake, VA and my campaign family knowing me so well that when he was declared the winner they immediately told me to look at the screen. I jumped. I cried. I was just as excited for him as I would be for President Obama a short time later. I watched him in the Senate defending my reproductive rights and fighting for our military and for our workers. Did I agree with every vote he made in his time as a Senator? No. Some of his votes regarding the environment were not my favorite and, honestly, I let him know. I have sent a few emails to his office over the years. Regardless, I am always proud of him. 

   I have always known Tim Kaine was made to do great things. Someone who is so sincere and will fight for his constituents should always rise. Hillary brought both a lover and a fighter on to her ticket to stand with her. I was so excited when I saw the announcement and I know many other Virginians were as well. We, Virginians, are so excited to share him with this country because we already know how great he is. 

Hillary Clinton rally in Annandale, VA just a couple weeks ago that I attended.

   I know I did not speak much on policy, but I wanted to introduce you all to the man. The person who every time I have been in a room with him has set my soul aflame the same way he did when I was just a young girl beginning to fall in love with politics. 

What Hillary's Nomination Means to a Little Girl that Fell in Love with Politics

   Today is very emotional for me. If I am honest, I did not think we would nominate a woman to be President for either major party until my generation was old enough to run for that office. Not because I thought there were no women worthy of it, but because I did not believe our country would ever be ready for it. Today I was proven wrong and it is the best day of my life so far. 

   I keep trying to imagine how I would be feeling if I were still that little 14 year old girl who fell in love with politics watching a woman nominated for President of the United States. I imagine that she would be in awe and so excited. That little girl would know she could do anything in the world she wanted. She would know that even though she would be entering a male dominated field she could succeed. 

That is the 14 year old that fell in love with politics there in the right hand corner with the glasses. (And our future Vice President, NBD.)

   Hillary Rodham Clinton's nomination to be President by the Democratic Party will mean so much for our little girls and for the generations coming after us. They will dream bigger, sore higher, and fight harder. I cannot wait until the day when I can show my daughter the videos of Hillary's nomination and, hopefully, her election and inauguration. Little girls will push past the limitations of the past and move on into a world of greater equality of gender.

   For me, today is one of the most important of my life. I witnessed my hero of two decades nominated for President after watching her fight through a campaign with latent sexism strewn through it. When you work in a field like politics the disparity of women to men is thrown in your face every day. It is hard to watch and often you hear women called 'shrill,' 'manish,' and 'overemotional' when running for or holding office. It is hard when you walk into a classroom for your major and you are one of three women in all and if you become passionate about something it is because 'it's that time of the month.' But I and so many others still fought our way through because we had women like Hillary going before us. 

   You see, she became one of my heroes before she held office for herself. Hillary Clinton was on my radar even when I was just 6 or 7 years old when she was still First Lady. With everything she went through in those years she handled it all with a grace and determination that few in similar positions could achieve. Once finished with her time as First Lady, she went on to become the first First Lady elected to office when she ran and won her New York Senate seat. Her record in the Senate made her one of the most progressive Democratic Senators during her time there. She ran for President once before in 2008 in a primary against the likes of John Edwards and Barack Obama. I stopped supporting John Edwards because of a sexist joke he made at a debate targeting Hillary. I struggled with whether I would support Hillary or Barack right up until I voted in the Virginia Primary. I voted for Barack Obama that cold winter day in 2008. I knew the country wasn't ready. Hillary, in her everlasting grace, moved for a vote by acclamation to nominate Barack Obama at the DNC that year and later accepted the position of Secretary of State in President Obama's administration. As Secretary of State, she visited more countries than any of her predecessors and rebuilt our relations with countries around the world. Now she has run again for the Democratic nomination for President and fought against years of slander and the latent sexism that thrives in our political process and she WON. By popular vote and by delegate allocation, she won. 

   Because of all this, I am moved and inspired. I hovered on the edge of tears the whole roll call vote and then tipped over to the other side with, a true patriot, Senator Bernie Sanders's motion for a vote by acclamation. Tears ran down my face as I watched a woman, my hero, Hillary Rodham Clinton, nominated by the Democratic Party, my party, for President of the United States. My dreams were always big. I have dreamed of being a congresswoman, an ambassador, and Secretary of State. Today is a day where I truly believe I can achieve any and all of those dreams. That little 14 year old who fell in love with politics is beaming and believes in herself more than ever before. S