Buzz grows that Tim Kaine will be Clinton’s VP pick

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine has emerged as the clear favorite a day before Hillary Clinton is expected to announce her running mate. 

Clinton confidants and allies believe Kaine is the leading contender. And some top allies have recommended that Clinton pick the Virginia Democrat. 

“I would bet all my chips on Kaine,” one confidant of Clinton said on Thursday. 

{mosads}Kaine has long been seen as a favorite to be Clinton’s running mate, though a number of other names have made the cut. 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is another top contender, and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Labor Secretary Tom Perez have all been seen as finalists. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has also met with Clinton and been in the mix, but it appears the always cautious Clinton is even more likely to pick a more centrist candidate given Republican Donald Trump’s decision to make Indiana Gov. Mike Pence his vice presidential candidate. 

One longtime Clinton friend said the Pence pick frees Clinton up “to go with someone who can be president immediately and with whom she has a strong relationship with no requirements to satisfy new demographic or diversity consideration.”

Clinton said earlier this week in an interview with Charlie Rose that she was “afflicted with the responsibility gene” and wanted someone who would be experienced above all. 

The New York Times also reported on Wednesday that Bill Clinton has signaled that he would like to see Kaine, the 58-year-old governor turned senator, on the ticket. 

And on Wednesday at the White House briefing, press secretary Josh Earnest, volunteered Kaine as a candidate whom President Obama would recommend. 

The selection process hasn’t been easy for Clinton. Those around her say she’s been intrigued by the excitement she’s been seeing from crowds as she appeared with Obama and Warren, and has considered selecting someone to generate that same buzz. 

Booker, whom The Washington Post said was still in the running on Thursday, headed to Cleveland in what some were labeling as a final tryout to criticize the tone of the Republican National Convention. 

Several Clinton aides cautioned that the VP information is being tightly held among a tight circle of aides — including top policy adviser Jake Sullivan, campaign manager Robby Mook and campaign chairman John Podesta, as well as longtime adviser Cheryl Mills — and that few details, such as the location and timing of the announcement, are known. 

With Clinton not appearing publicly for the last couple of days to decide on her running mate and taking part in other convention preparation, Kaine kept to business as usual. On Thursday, he held a roundtable discussion with local advocacy groups on immigration reform and then was expected to hold another discussion with leaders of the Northern Virginia interfaith and civil rights communities later in the day. 

A day earlier, he appeared at a commerce event in Virginia along with Sen. Mark Warner (D).