--- title: DNC: What Democratic Delegates Thought of Tim Kaine description: Sen. Tim Kaine's speech at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday was the first time many delegates got to hear him. canonical: https://time.com/4429042/dnc-tim-kaine-delegate-reaction/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-28T18:41:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:44:31.981Z article:section: Politics og:title: What Delegates at the Democratic Convention Had to Say About Tim Kaine og:description: "What you see is what you get." og:url: https://time.com/4429042/dnc-tim-kaine-delegate-reaction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16051e6bf9ab4a98/69889ffacd1bba52d3701b55/tim-kaine-joe-biden-hot-young.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 2016 Democratic National Convention - Day 3 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Delegates at the Democratic Convention Had to Say About Tim Kaine twitter:description: "What you see is what you get." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16051e6bf9ab4a98/69889ffacd1bba52d3701b55/tim-kaine-joe-biden-hot-young.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What Democratic Delegates Thought of Tim Kaine's Debut > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c781c983-61d5-4e96-a675-7fc268c86541&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: What DNC Delegates Think Of Tim Kaine [Watch (HLS stream): What DNC Delegates Think Of Tim Kaine](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/f3iDcTMa.m3u8) (1:34)  _Published 2016-07-28. TIME interviewed several delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia following vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine's speech, to get their thoughts on him as a potential VP._ by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 28, 2016 6:41 PM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 28, 2016 6:41 PM UTC Sen. Tim Kaine’s speech at the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday was the first time many delegates got to hear from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s running mate. The man who once called himself [“boring” in a _Meet the Press_ interview](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-june-26-2016-n599196) laid out his life in front of an audience, showing them his ability to break into fluent Spanish and making a case for having started politics at the local level. Delegates described him as anything from “humble” to “progressive.” For some supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign, Clinton’s decision to tap Kaine as a running mate gave them pause. “The big question was whether… he is progressive enough,” one delegate told TIME. See what other delegates had to say in the video below. ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] Tim Kaine's speech made me love him and get to know him. He gave us a journey. He spoke about his wife, his children but most of all he spoke about his hopes, his desires. I think he's compassionate. I think he's done so much in civil rights. I came as a Bernie delegate. The big question was whether he is progressive enough. He's also very progressive, and I think a progressive enough To also win over many Bernie supporters. I'm gonna have to do more research into him, but as a first impression, it was pretty good. I appreciate that he is such a progressive Catholic. I think that it brings a faith based dimension and progressive To the vice presidency. He laid out a great case for why he would be a great Vice President, and he laid out a great case for why Hillary would be the best President. Humble, yet assertive. A lot of connections to maybe people who are more conservative, but who are willing to vote Democratic, and I think that's important in this election. Election, cuz a lot of people don't wanna vote for Trump even if they are Republican. What you see is what you get. He will not walk up to the microphone and start trying to pretend to be some great orator. He's gonna be who he is, and that is the beauty of having Tim Kaine on the ticket. 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