Tim Kaine's support of the TPP is not sitting well with some liberal groups. | Getty Kaine pick draws mixed reviews from liberals While Wall Street lobbyists rejoice, progressive groups are less than thrilled. 
 
 Hillary Clinton’s unveiling of Tim Kaine as her vice presidential pick was greeted by mixed reactions from liberal groups on Friday night. But one constituency breathed a sigh of relief: Wall Street. 
 
 While some praised his consistent support of labor and women’s rights, several progressive organizations were quick to criticize Clinton's newly minted running mate, urging the Democratic ticket to adopt a more “populist” stance on trade and financial regulation. 
 
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 “The mood of the country is a populist one,” said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of Progressive Change Campaign Committee, in a statement emailed minutes after Kaine was announced. “Unfortunately, since Tim Kaine voted to fast track the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Republicans now have a new opening to attack Democrats on this economic populist issue.” 
 
 Taylor said that Clinton, who supported the 11-country Pacific trade pact as secretary of state before reversing her stance last fall, has opened up a line of attack from Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has ripped such agreements as "bad deals" for the United States. 
 
 "As we saw in Donald Trump’s speech last night, Republicans will run hard against Democrats on trade this year,” Taylor said. “Clinton should push the White House to take TPP off the table in a lame duck Congress in order to avoid this vice presidential pick allowing Donald Trump to outflank her on this key issue." 
 
 According to a report in the Huffington Post, Kaine has told Clinton he now opposes the TPP, though he praised the agreement as recently as Thursday. 
 
 The PCCC's criticism comes after another progressive group, Democracy for America, denounced Kaine in a pre-emptive strike issued before Clinton even announced her pick. 
 
 “It should be disqualifying for any potential Democratic vice presidential candidate to be part of a lobbyist-driven effort to help banks dodge consumer protection standards and regulations designed to prevent banks from destroying our economy,” the group’s executive director Charles Chamberlain said in a statement Thursday, referencing a letter Kaine signed urging the Federal Reserve to consider easing regulations on regional banks. 
 
 Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, who backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, was among those on the left who expressed disappointment with the decision, tweeting: “Att’n Hillary campaign: It’s not Trump who’ll beat u. It’s the people who are going to stay home.” 
 
 While most mainstream groups seemed happy with the choice of Kaine, the risk, some Democratic operatives said, was that Clinton might have just re-opened a rift with the left wing of the party that Trump could exploit. 
 
 “The risk with picking Kaine isn’t about Clinton thumbing her nose to the Bernie Bros, it’s about losing the Rust Belt (where anti-trade and anti-Wall St. sentiment is high),” a Democratic strategist with ties to the region told POLITICO in an email. “Between the Ohio and PA polls and the Brexit vote, this seems like it could be a big risk.” 
 
 Prominent labor groups, however, met the Kaine announcement with open arms. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka praised Kaine’s “strong record on workers’ issues” while the SEIU vouched for the senator’s labor bona fides, saying in a statement: “We know what is in Tim Kaine’s heart.” 
 
 Despite his personal opposition to abortion, Kaine also received strong approval from several women’s rights groups, including the National Organization for Women (NOW), which hailed the senator as a "proven leader" who as vice president would "work to break down the barriers that hold women and marginalized communities back.” 
 
 “The combination of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine stands in sharp contrast to the turn-back-the-clock, step up the war on women platform of Donald Trump and Mike Pence,” NOW President Terry O'Neill said in a statement. “Women know this is the most important election in a generation, and we also know that we have a steadfast advocate in Tim Kaine.” 
 
 Stephanie Schriock, the influential head of Emily’s List, tweeted, “The strongest ticket for women and families just got even stronger.” 
 
 As if to head off potential criticism, the Clinton campaign cast Kaine as a progressive in its statements on Friday. In an email to supporters explaining her decision, Clinton described Kaine as “a lifelong fighter for progressive causes.” 
 
 And Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon tweeted out a list of Kaine’s ratings from several progressive groups -- all of which have larger followings than either the PCCC or DFA. 
 
 Kaine's ratings from key progressive groups: 
 
 Brady Campaign 100% 
 
 Human Rights Campaign 100% 
 
 Planned Parenthood 100% 
 
 AFL CIO 96% 
 
 NAACP 96% — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) July 23, 2016 
 
 Wall Street lobbyists, meanwhile, reacted with relief to the Kaine selection on Friday, not because the senator is particularly soft on financial reform but because his name is not Elizabeth Warren. 
 
 “He has demonstrated some interest in banking issues as evidenced by last week’s letter,” one of the top Wall Street lobbyists in Washington emailed POLITICO, referring to the letter to the Fed that Kaine signed. “He's a sign of Hillary being Hippocratic in her pick -- he does no harm. Time will tell if progressives show real angst or if it’s just fringe groups.” 
 
 The lobbyist added that a Warren pick, while never viewed as likely, would have “split the Street” between Clinton and Trump. Now industry cash is likely to keep flowing to Clinton. 
 
 Another lobbyist who had feared for weeks that the Massachusetts senator might be chosen said that Kaine was “certainly more level-headed and substantive than others considered.” 
 
 Dennis Kelleher, CEO of financial reform group Better Markets, said that Kaine was “not going to fire anyone up, but smart safe choice of a really well liked, high-quality guy with good values. He’ll have some work to do on the key issues, but I believe he'll do it effectively and win over those who have doubts or concerns.” 
 
 Authors: ||||| The Fix's Aaron Blake breaks down why Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton chose Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.) to be her running mate. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) 
 
 The Fix's Aaron Blake breaks down why Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton chose Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.) to be her running mate. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) 
 
 Even before Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.) was unveiled Friday as Hillary Clinton’s running mate, liberal groups were teed up to criticize the pick. 
 
 Kaine’s boosters say that Kaine, a former Virginia governor and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is far more progressive than many of his critics realize. 
 
 But several organizations, including some with ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the runner-up in the Democratic primaries, sharply questioned Kaine’s liberal bona fides, pointing to Kaine’s support of trade deals and regulations favorable to big banks. 
 
 Stephanie Taylor, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, worried that Kaine’s support of a pending trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership could allow Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to “outflank” Clinton on trade. 
 
 [Sen. Timothy M. Kaine of Virginia chosen as Hillary Clinton’s VP] 
 
 Sen. Timothy M. Kaine of Virginia waves to the crowd before attending a private fundraiser in Rhode Island on Friday. (Bob Breidenbach /Providence Journal via AP) 
 
 Trump has been trying to reach out to Sanders supporters and blue-collar Democrats, arguing that his protectionist views are more in line with theirs than those of the presumptive Democratic nominee. 
 
 “It’s now more important than ever that Hillary Clinton run an aggressive campaign on core economic ideas like expanding Social Security, debt-free college, Wall Street reform, and yes, stopping the TPP,” Taylor said. “It’s the best way to unite the Democratic Party and stop Republicans from winning over swing voters on bread-and-butter issues.” 
 
 On Thursday, as speculation was mounting that Kaine would be Clinton’s choice, Charles Chamberlain, executive director of the activist network Democracy for America, which backed Sanders in the primaries, said that it should be “disqualifying” for any potential Democratic vice-presidential nominee to “help banks dodge consumer protection standards.” 
 
 That was based in part on a bipartisan letter that Kaine signed on Monday urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to “carefully tailor its rulemaking” regarding community banks and credit unions so as not to “unduly burden” these institutions with regulations aimed at commercial banks. 
 
 [Kaine’s acceptance of gifts in Virginia could create opening for Republicans] 
 
 On Friday, Norman Solomon, the coordinator of a group billing itself as the Bernie Delegates Network, called Kaine “a loyal servant of oligarchy.” 
 
 “If Clinton has reached out to Bernie supporters, it appears that she has done so to stick triangulating thumbs in their eyes,” said Solomon, whose organization claims to represent hundreds of Sanders delegates attending the convention in Philadelphia but is not coordinating with the campaign. 
 
 Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.) is Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's running mate. Here's what you need to know about him. (Sarah Parnass,Osman Malik/The Washington Post) 
 
 The group has threatened to protest during the Democratic convention with Kaine on the ticket. 
 
 Winnie Wong, an Occupy Wall Street veteran who founded the group People for Bernie, was also underwhelmed with Kaine’s pick, calling it “unsurprising and predictable.” 
 
 “It shows a woeful disregard to the progressives who fought so hard this year to create conditions for transformational change this country desperately needs,” Wong said. “Team Clinton did the math on this horse race and they are betting on Tim Kaine to court those white male moderate/Indy voters who won’t vote for her. I doubt they can be moved.” 
 
 Kaine’s selection was touted by other traditional boosters of the Democratic Party, including several labor union leaders. 
 
 Marc Perrone, president of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, praised Kaine for a long record of having “supported hard-working families and worked to make their lives better.” 
 
 “When a plan to sell grocery stores in Virginia was announced earlier this year, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of UFCW families, Senator Kaine stood with us as we successfully rallied the community to save local jobs.” Perrone said. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, called Kaine “an experienced leader with a proven track record on issues from raising wages to immigration reform and racial justice.” 
 
 In picking Kaine, Clinton passed over two Hispanic candidates who were considered, Julián Castro, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez. 
 
 Though many Latino leaders were disappointed, a leading group praised Kaine as “no stranger to the Latino community,” citing the time he spent as a missionary in Honduras. 
 
 “He has consistently put emphasis on communicating with our community, hearing and addressing their concerns,” said Pili Tobar, advocacy and communications director for the Latino Victory Project. 
 
 The selection of Kaine, meanwhile, received mixed reviews from environmental groups Friday. 
 
 The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund proclaimed him an “awesome choice” in a statement. 
 
 “As mayor, governor and senator, he has a proven track record as an environmental leader who has worked to combat climate change, grow our clean energy economy and protect special places in Virginia and across the country,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, the group’s senior vice president of government affairs. 
 
 Greenpeace, however, took issue with some of Kaine’s positions on issues related to climate change, with Annie Leonard, the group’s executive director saying “he still has a long way to go” to prove he’s a “progressive force.” 
 
 The group praised Kaine’s early opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline but questioned his stands on fracking and support for natural gas exports. 
 
 David Weigel contributed to this report. ||||| Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, a leading contender to be Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's pick for vice president, waves to the crowd before attending a private fundraiser event in Newport,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, a leading contender to be Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's pick for vice president, waves to the crowd before attending a private fundraiser event in Newport,... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Delegates to the Democratic National Convention gave mostly positive reviews to Hillary Clinton's choice for vice president Friday, saying he will appeal to moderates but also do little to soothe disenchanted Bernie Sanders supporters. 
 
 Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine received praise for his wide-ranging experience, even as many delegates acknowledged that he would not generate the level of enthusiasm or party unity as a progressive or first-ever Latino pick. Sanders delegates in particular hoped for the selection of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who aligns more closely with Sanders on positions such as regulating Wall Street. 
 
 "People are going to discount Tim Kaine, and have in the past, and it's going to be a lot more exciting than maybe what Bernie Sanders delegates will think," said Katie Naranjo, a Clinton superdelegate from Austin, Texas. She said that while Kaine may seem like a "conventional choice," he will balance the ticket well for the general election. 
 
 Delegates were heading to Philadelphia for the convention starting Monday, with those who support Sanders indicating uncertainty about embracing a Clinton ticket. Sanders endorsed Clinton last week. 
 
 It "was a horrible pick," said Angie Morelli, a Sanders delegate from Nevada. "In a time when she is trying to cater to Sanders supporters, it was more catering to conservative voters and she's not going to get any wave from it." She said she's bothered by Kaine's association with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a global trade pact that Sanders and Clinton oppose. 
 
 Dwight Bullard, a Florida state senator, said not one of the 70-plus Sanders delegates in his state including himself is happy with Kaine's selection. He worried that the centrist choice could magnify progressives' view that Clinton will backtrack on issues important to them, such as climate change and tuition aid for college students. 
 
 "If you bring in someone with great credentials, that's fine, but inclusivity of the progressive agenda can be a more important message," Bullard said. 
 
 Sanders delegates were mulling ways to show support for Sanders during the convention, such as a walkout after the roll call of states Tuesday, according to excerpts of a Slack thread Friday obtained by The Associated Press. But many others also said they wanted to get direction from Sanders, who was scheduled to meet privately with his delegates Monday. 
 
 "Delegates are intensely discussing and considering options," said Norman Solomon, a San Francisco delegate who called Kaine's selection "unacceptable." Solomon leads the Bernie Delegates Network, a loose organization of more than 1,200 delegates. 
 
 Clinton settled on Kaine after vetting a diverse group of candidates that included Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and Labor Secretary Tom Perez. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, one of two black senators, was also considered. 
 
 Clinton delegate Roger Salazar of California said he was rooting for Clinton to select Rep. Xavier Becerra, a Hispanic and one of the most powerful Democrats in the House. But Salazar, a longtime party strategist, called Kaine "a pretty solid choice." 
 
 Jocelyn Bucaro, an Ohio superdelegate and Clinton supporter, praised Kaine as someone who will appeal to a broad range of voters in swing states, even Republicans uncomfortable with Trump. 
 
 "The most important consideration is his ability to step in as president, and he clearly has the experience, knowledge, intelligence and temperament to do that," Bucaro said. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Austin, Texas; Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas; Michael Blood in Los Angeles; and Dan Sewell in Cincinnati, Ohio, contributed to this report. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Hope Yen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/hopeyen1 ||||| The Fix's Aaron Blake breaks down why Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton chose Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to be her running mate. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) 
 
 The Fix's Aaron Blake breaks down why Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton chose Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to be her running mate. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) 
 
 Hillary Clinton has chosen Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (Va.) as her vice-presidential running mate, completing a Democratic ticket that prizes experience and traditional notions of public service in a political year dominated by Republican rival Donald Trump’s unorthodox, highly personal brand of leadership. 
 
 Kaine, 58, a former Virginia governor, Richmond mayor and Democratic National Committee chairman, was chosen after a search that included riskier and more unconventional candidates who offered greater appeal to the party’s liberal base. 
 
 He was a longtime favorite to become Clinton’s running mate, however, in part because of the political and personal attributes she considers well-suited to the governing partnership she seeks — and in part because of the calculation that the experience of a Clinton-Kaine ticket would outgun Trump’s outsider bombast. 
 
 Clinton notified supporters of her selection in a text message. 
 
 “I’m thrilled to tell you this first,” the text read. “I’ve chosen Sen. Tim Kaine as my running mate. Welcome him to my team.” 
 
 Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's vice presidential candidate. Here's what you need to know about him. (Sarah Parnass,Osman Malik/The Washington Post) 
 
 Kaine, who was in Rhode Island for a long-scheduled fundraising party, responded to the selection with a Twitter message. 
 
 “Just got off the phone with Hillary. I’m honored to be her running mate. Can’t wait to hit the trail tomorrow in Miami!” 
 
 Kaine is not known for his charisma on the campaign trail; he has called himself the “happy senator” and even “boring” — and Clinton laughingly agreed in a PBS interview earlier this week. 
 
 “I love that about him,” she said Monday. 
 
 “He’s never lost an election. He was a world-class mayor, governor and senator, and is one of the most highly respected senators I know,” she said. 
 
 [10 things you should know about Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s new running mate] 
 
 Along with his image as a low-key workhorse, Kaine brings legislative experience in the Senate and executive experience as a popular if unremarkable governor. He comes from a battleground state, albeit one widely considered winnable for Clinton whether Kaine is on the ticket or not. 
 
 Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has selected Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.) to be her running mate. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post) 
 
 Clinton has said that her most important criterion was the ability to step into the presidency at any moment. She also sought a running mate who would be able to work with Republicans to advance an ambitious legislative agenda that includes immigration reform and new gun-control measures, her campaign said. 
 
 Kaine’s affable, regular-guy presence may also help balance the perception of Clinton as remote, chilly and privileged. She is among the least-liked major party candidates in decades, according to public opinion polls, behind only Trump. 
 
 Clinton’s choice comes as she and the Democratic Party prepare for a four-day convention that will showcase her résumé and experience. It’s a counterpoint to what Democrats say are Trump’s lack of credentials. 
 
 With Kaine, Clinton hopes to focus the election even more squarely on the question of preparation and ability. Kaine shares Clinton’s governing philosophy. They share a basic ideology that government can do good and that the United States should be both a moral actor and an engaged diplomatic and military presence overseas. 
 
 She is also counting on him to be a partisan attack dog somewhat in the model of Vice President Biden. 
 
 [Kaine’s acceptance of gifts in Virginia could create opening for Republicans] 
 
 Trump focused intensely on Clinton during his speech in Cleveland Thursday accepting the Republican nomination, calling her corrupt and incompetent and accusing her of making the country less safe as secretary of state. 
 
 Even before it was announced, Kaine’s pick was panned by several liberal groups, including some with ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the runner-up in the Democratic primaries. 
 
 In recent television interviews, Sanders has praised Kaine, but some of his supporters have sharply questioned his progressive bona fides, pointing to Kaine’s support of trade deals and regulations favorable to big banks. 
 
 Charles Chamberlain, executive director of the activist network Democracy for America, which backed Sanders in the primaries, said Thursday that it should be “disqualifying” for any potential Democratic vice-presidential nominee to “help banks dodge consumer protection standards.” 
 
 And on Friday, Norman Solomon, the coordinator of a group billing itself as the Bernie Delegates Network, called Kaine “a loyal servant of oligarchy.” 
 
 “If Clinton has reached out to Bernie supporters, it appears that she has done so to stick triangulating thumbs in their eyes,” said Solomon, whose organization claims to represent hundreds of Sanders delegates attending the convention in Philadelphia but is not coordinating with the campaign. 
 
 [Kaine’s VP pick greeted by blowback from progressive groups] 
 
 Kaine was in New England on Friday afternoon attending a pair of fundraisers, one in Boston to benefit his Senate campaign account and another in Rhode Island on behalf of Sen. Jack Reed, a fellow Democrat. 
 
 Kaine did not share anything about the status of the search Friday with reporters who staked out his home in Richmond or caught up with him at Logan Airport in Boston. 
 
 Clinton, meanwhile, was making several campaign stops in Florida on Friday. She began in Orlando, a city that is still reeling from a terror attack at a gay nightclub that left 49 people dead. 
 
 She was held a rally in Tampa later in the day. On Saturday, she is expected to appear at another rally at Florida International University in Miami. For now, her public schedule is clear after that until a Monday appearance in Charlotte. 
 
 Clinton told Democrats that she wanted to choose someone who would work to elect other Democrats and raise money for Democrats nationally. Kaine has a track record of doing both, and is a solid speaker who will perform well in debates and interviews, said Daniel Palazzolo, chairman of the University of Richmond’s political science department. 
 
 “He has a broad range of governing experience, most importantly. I don’t think that should be understated, especially this year” against Trump, who has never held elective office and promises to bring a businessman’s perspective to the White House. 
 
 Trump selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate, a choice that added to the Republican ticket someone with experience and a résumé with parallels to Kaine’s. 
 
 Representing a state with a large military presence and defense industry has burnished Kaine’s national security experience, and he serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee as well as the Foreign Relations Committee. He won admiration within the military and jolted Democrats when he pushed for congressional consideration of a new war authorization for the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. In 2015, he joined Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to seek a new three-year authorization for military force. The effort stalled, but it raised Kaine’s stature. 
 
 Kaine speaks Spanish, but his selection represents a disappointment for Hispanics and others who had hoped that Clinton, the first woman to head a major-party ticket, would choose the first major-party Latino running mate. Hispanics are a key constituency for Democrats this year, and Clinton’s election strategy has long been built around engaging women and Hispanics. 
 
 Two Latinos who were passed over serve in President Obama’s Cabinet — Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and Housing Secretary Julián Castro. Obama had discussed those candidates with Clinton as she made her choice, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday. Earnest also said Obama thinks highly of Kaine. 
 
 The president considers Kaine “one of his as well,” even though he did not serve in the Cabinet. 
 
 “Senator Kaine is one of the first public officials to announce a public endorsement of Senator Obama. 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, and — I think it’s been publicly reported — was even considered himself as a running mate back in 2008,” Earnest said. 
 
 Kaine is Roman Catholic and took a break from Harvard Law School to serve as a missionary in Honduras in the early 1980s. He said he holds “traditional Catholic” views on abortion, but he maintains that he strongly supports abortion rights. He has taken a similar stand on the death penalty, saying he opposes it for personal and religious reasons — but promising as governor to uphold the law of Virginia, where capital punishment is legal. 
 
 Kaine’s emphasis on faith in his personal life appealed to Clinton, a Methodist, and was discussed during conversations the two held leading up to his selection, a Democrat with ties to both of them said. 
 
 “I do what I do for spiritual reasons,” Kaine said in a recent C-SPAN interview. 
 
 Republicans are likely to seize on Kaine’s somewhat mixed message on abortion as well as his unsuccessful attempt as governor to raise transportation taxes. 
 
 But he has few other known personal or political liabilities, a safe and steady choice whose departure from the Senate would not cause an immediate loss for Democrats. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) would name a replacement ahead of a special election in 2017. The winner would have to run again for a full six-year term the following year. 
 
 Kaine was given an audition of sorts on the trail last week, when he joined Clinton at a campaign stop in a gymnasium at a community college in Northern Virginia. 
 
 The two were warmly received by the crowd and had an easy rapport, though the atmosphere was not nearly as electric it had been the month before when Clinton was joined at a rally in Ohio by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a darling of the party’s left wing. 
 
 Early in his remarks, Kaine broke into Spanish, explaining how the meaning of the slogan “Ready for Hillary” takes on even more significance in that language than in English. 
 
 Kaine later asked the crowd three questions about the choice voters face in the election against Trump: whether they want a “you’re hired” president or a “you’re fired” president; whether they want a “trash-talk” president or a “bridge-building” president; and whether they want a “me-first” or a “kids-and-families-first” president. 
 
 Clinton, who was perched on a stool nearby, broke into a big smile as Kaine ticked off what he described as crucial differences between Clinton and Trump. 
 
 “I really love what Tim said,” Clinton told the crowd when she took the microphone. “I like the three questions he posed. . . . What Tim said is really worth considering.” 
 
 Clinton also praised the work of Kaine’s wife, Anne Holton, the state education secretary in Virginia. 
 
 Abby Phillip in Orlando contributed to this report. ||||| In Orlando, she laid flowers on a makeshift memorial outside the Pulse nightclub, where a gunman who expressed sympathy with the Islamic State killed 49 people last month. At an earlier round-table discussion with emergency medical workers and elected officials, Mrs. Clinton nodded solemnly and hardly spoke, an implicit contrast with Mr. Trump’s 75-minute speech on Thursday night. 
 
 At a rally in Tampa on Friday evening, Mrs. Clinton blasted the bleak vision of America presented by her Republican rival. “The last thing that we need is somebody who is running for president who talks trash about America,” Mrs. Clinton said. 
 
 She showed solidarity with Mr. Trump’s top primary rival, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. “I mean, I never thought I’d say these words, but Ted Cruz was right,” she said, and then quoted Mr. Cruz’s despondent Wednesday night speech. “Vote your conscience.” 
 
 Now some of the job of discrediting Mr. Trump will fall to Mr. Kaine, who wrote on Twitter that he was eager to hit the campaign trail. 
 
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 “Just got off the phone with Hillary,” he said. “I’m honored to be her running mate.” 
 
 Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Kaine have similar positions on many issues, and they are said to share an easy rapport and an interest in policy details. “I do have a fondness for wonks,” Mrs. Clinton said in the PBS interview. 
 
 Asked whether Mr. Kaine was boring, Mrs. Clinton said, “I love that about him.” She added, “He’s never lost an election.” 
 
 Republicans seized on the selection and tried to sow discord among Democrats, arguing that the pick was evidence that Mrs. Clinton had been dishonest with her party’s liberal base. 
 
 “Hillary Clinton’s choice of Tim Kaine does nothing to unify a fractured Democrat base which is repelled by her dishonesty and cronyism,” Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in a statement. “After spending last week pandering to grass-roots Democrats with Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton has chosen someone who holds positions that she’s spent the entire primary trying to get to the left of.” 
 
 The Trump campaign quickly labeled Mrs. Clinton’s new running mate “Corrupt Kaine,” pointing to lavish gifts he had received during his years as governor and lieutenant governor of Virginia. 
 
 “It’s only fitting that Hillary Clinton would select an ethically challenged insider like Tim Kaine who’s personally benefited from the rigged system,” said Jason Miller, a spokesman for Mr. Trump. 
 
 While many Democrats swiftly praised the move, some in the party’s liberal wing expressed dismay, claiming that Mr. Kaine was out of step with it on some of its core issues, like trade. 
 
 “As we saw in Donald Trump’s speech last night, Republicans will run hard against Democrats on trade this year,” said Stephanie Taylor, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “Unfortunately, since Tim Kaine voted to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Republicans now have a new opening to attack Democrats on this economic populist issue.” 
 
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 She added, “The mood of the country is a populist one.” 
 
 The son of a welder who owned a small metalworking shop, Mr. Kaine, a Roman Catholic, grew up around Kansas City, Mo. He attended a Jesuit school and took a break from law school at Harvard to spend time as a Catholic missionary in Honduras, an experience that his family has said shaped him and helped him become fluent in Spanish. 
 
 Early in his career, Mr. Kaine worked on fair housing and civil rights issues as a lawyer. He was elected to the City Council in Richmond, Va., in 1994, and proceeded to climb the ranks of elected office in the state. He became the city’s mayor in 1998, the state’s lieutenant governor in 2002 and the governor in 2006. He also served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. 
 
 As governor, Mr. Kaine drew some support from rural parts of the state as well as strong backing in the state’s Democratic-leaning suburban areas. He led the state through one of its darkest times, the shooting at Virginia Tech that killed 32 people in 2007. In 2013, Mr. Kaine implored the United States Senate to find a “small measure of courage” to fight the gun lobby and impose tougher background checks on gun ownership. 
 
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 Mr. Kaine was an early endorser of Senator Barack Obama’s presidential bid in the 2008 nominating fight against Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Kaine was also considered on Mr. Obama’s shortlist of vice-presidential candidates before Mr. Obama selected Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware. In 2012, Mr. Kaine defeated George Allen, a Republican, to take the Senate seat being vacated by the Democrat Jim Webb. 
 
 Mrs. Clinton’s choice of Mr. Kaine underscores the rising political importance of Virginia, a state with a significant suburban and minority population. 
 
 Mr. Obama defeated John McCain in the state by more than six percentage points, the first time since Lyndon B. Johnson’s victory in 1964 that the state had voted for a Democratic presidential nominee. An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll from July 15 shows Mrs. Clinton ahead of Mr. Trump for the state’s 13 electoral votes by nine percentage points. 
 
 The search for a running mate began in April, after Mrs. Clinton had decisively won the New York primary, with a number of candidates. 
 
 Mrs. Clinton came to the process with a unique vantage point, having been closely involved in her husband’s selection of Senator Al Gore of Tennessee in 1992, a choice that brought youth and Southern charm to a ticket already overflowing with it. 
 
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 With just days remaining before her announcement of a running mate, Mrs. Clinton had not yet made up her mind as her advisers debated what attributes voters might want in a vice president. 
 
 As the search narrowed, Mrs. Clinton wanted to test her chemistry on the campaign trail with Mr. Kaine. After their Virginia rally last week, she invited him to her home in Washington for a meeting that lasted until 10:30 p.m. 
 
 Last Saturday, the day after meeting with other candidates in Washington, she invited Mr. Kaine and his wife to lunch at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., with her family. 
 
 At 7:30 p.m. Friday, just after her fiery speech in Tampa, Mrs. Clinton called Mr. Kaine to give him the news, before calling President Obama to let him know that she had chosen his friend.
– Hillary Clinton has joined Donald Trump in selecting a white man from a swing state who describes himself as "boring" for a running mate—and liberal Democrats, especially Bernie Sanders supporters, aren't exactly fired up about Sen. Tim Kaine. Clinton, however, describes the former Virginia governor as "a lifelong fighter for progressive causes," and both Wall Street donors and labor groups are happy with the choice. Republicans, meanwhile including RNC chief Reince Priebus, were quick to highlight the party divisions. A round-up of reactions: The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is among the groups not happy about Kaine's past support for the big trade deals criticized by Donald Trump. "The mood of the country is a populist one," group co-founder Stephanie Taylor said in a statement to Politico. "Unfortunately, since Tim Kaine voted to fast track the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Republicans now have a new opening to attack Democrats on this economic populist issue." Union chiefs expressed their support for Kaine, including Service Employees International Union chief Mary Kay Henry, who called him "an experienced leader with a proven track record on issues from raising wages to immigration reform and racial justice," the Washington Post reports. The Trump campaign wasted no time coming up with a nickname for Kaine: It is calling him "Corrupt Kaine," based on gifts he received as governor, the New York Times reports. "It's only fitting that Hillary Clinton would select an ethically challenged insider like Tim Kaine who’s personally benefited from the rigged system," a Trump spokesman says. Wall Street lobbyists are satisfied with the choice, especially since the other candidates being vetted included Elizabeth Warren. "He's a sign of Hillary being Hippocratic in her pick—he does no harm," a top lobbyist tells Politico. "Time will tell if progressives show real angst or if it’s just fringe groups." The National Organization of Women supports Kaine: "The combination of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine stands in sharp contrast to the turn-back-the-clock, step up the war on women platform of Donald Trump and Mike Pence," NOW President Terry O'Neill said in a statement. "Women know this is the most important election in a generation, and we also know that we have a steadfast advocate in Tim Kaine." Norman Solomon, who says his "Bernie Delegates Network" represents hundreds of Sanders delegates, calls Kaine "a loyal servant of oligarchy." "If Clinton has reached out to Bernie supporters, it appears that she has done so to stick triangulating thumbs in their eyes," he tells the Washington Post. The AP spoke to convention delegates and found that Clinton supporters consider Kaine a "solid" choice who will appeal to a range of voters, while Sanders supporters are deeply unhappy with the choice. It "was a horrible pick," says Angie Morelli, a Sanders delegate from Nevada. "In a time when she is trying to cater to Sanders supporters, it was more catering to conservative voters and she's not going to get any wave from it." USA Today lists some facts about Kaine, who is fluent in Spanish and is one of just 20 people to have been a mayor, a governor and a US senator.