--- 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: 2026-02-22T23:38:00.096Z 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What Democratic Delegates Thought of Tim Kaine's Debut by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 28, 2016 6:41 PM UTC  U.S. Vice President nominee Tim Kaine delivers remarks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center on July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. U.S. Vice President nominee Tim Kaine delivers remarks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center on July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Paul Morigi—WireImage/Getty Images 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. 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