A few days back, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a former governor of Virginia. That conviction had been based upon the governor's receiving "gifts" from supporters and others. Now, the issue of similar gifts has arisen with another former governor of Virginia. This time, it's senator Tim Kaine who has been at the top of the Hillary Clinton's list of potential vice presidential candidates. It was uncovered that Kaine got $160,000 in gifts while governor or lieutenant governor of Virginia; the gifts were reported in filings that Kaine made to the state.
Let's be clear: I'm not saying that Kaine did anything illegal. We certainly don't know that. The problem for Hillary, however, is that Kaine did nearly the same thing that got his successor convicted of corruption (only to see that conviction reversed by the Supreme Court.) Will Hillary actually nominate a vice presidential candidate who collected big bucks while in office even if there's not enough proof to convict him of taking bribes? For any other candidate, that would look bad. For Hillary Clinton, it would look like she wanted a running mate who might make her look a little less dishonest by comparison.
Let's be clear: I'm not saying that Kaine did anything illegal. We certainly don't know that. The problem for Hillary, however, is that Kaine did nearly the same thing that got his successor convicted of corruption (only to see that conviction reversed by the Supreme Court.) Will Hillary actually nominate a vice presidential candidate who collected big bucks while in office even if there's not enough proof to convict him of taking bribes? For any other candidate, that would look bad. For Hillary Clinton, it would look like she wanted a running mate who might make her look a little less dishonest by comparison.
No comments:
Post a Comment