The Washington Post reports on Tim Kaine's morning yesterday canvassing for votes in Falls Church. There's a great story in which Kaine, who spent a year as a missionary in Honduras, greets several Hispanic immigrants "in a parking lot outside a shopping center," speaking with them in fluent Spanish. "Me llamo Tim Kaine. Soy el candidato democrata para gobernador de Virginia," he says, then asks them what issues matter to them most. According to the Post story, "They talked about getting driver's licenses for immigrant workers and about finding help for day laborers who were not getting paid." Now, can anyone imagine Jerry "The Duck" Kilgore doing such a thing? I mean, seriously, Kilgore's a guy who's afraid to speak to Virginia voters in English, let alone in Spanish! In stark contrast, Tim Kaine apparently will speak to anyone, anytime, and anyplace, even if it's just a few Hispanics immigrants (who might not even be eligible to vote) in a parking lot in Falls Church, VA.
More broadly, this whole incident truly says something great about Tim Kaine. For starters, he didn't just stick to canvassing half-million dollar townhomes and luxury condos yesterday morning. Kaine could easily have done that, of course, given his tight schedule (including the Democratic unity rally planned for Williamsburg later in the day). Instead, Kaine went out of his way to meet the working people of Virginia, speaking to them in their own language. All I have to say to this is: Muy impresionante, Se?or Kaine, nuestro pr?ximo gobernador!