Kaine talks Biden’s health, ‘podunk paper’ at Staunton elections office opening

STAUNTON – The Democratic Party of Virginia opened a new headquarters in downtown Staunton on Saturday.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine was among the speakers at the opening, addressing President Joe Biden’s health and calling for Biden to resign as the party’s presidential nominee. Kaine also criticized his opponent in the Virginia senatorial race, Republican Hung Cao.

A cloudy morning, but no rain at first

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine arrived at the new Staunton office around 10:15 a.m. Democratic organizers had planned for the event to be pre-announced and fully open to the public. Plans changed after former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear a week earlier, and concerns about political violence were higher than before July 13.

The new office is one of six Democratic election headquarters that opened in the past week, including Abingdon, Culpeper, Warrenton, Front Royal and Lynchburg. The Staunton opening was the final stop on Kaine’s office-opening tour of Virginia.

The rain held off long enough for the crowd to gather under the tent and listen to the candidate’s speech.

Opening remarks by congressional candidate and chair of the Virginia Democrat

Congressional candidate Ken Mitchell was the first speaker. Mitchell expressed his support for the Equal Rights Amendment, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the LGBTQ community, and mitigating the effects of climate change.

“The basic rights and freedoms that we protect and defend as Democrats are at the top of the list,” Mitchell said. “While the issues may change, the need for men and women of character, worth, sound judgment and integrity will not change. That’s what Biden-Harris adds. That’s what Senator Tim Kaine adds. I’ll be brief, because I know you’re here to hear the senator.”

Virginia Democratic Party Chair Susan Swecker was the second speaker, thanking Mitchell for his remarks and attacking his opponent, current Congressman Ben Cline.

“If you’re elected to Congress, you can stand there with integrity when our U.S. Senator Tim Kaine cuts a check for, whether it’s broadband, whether it’s building an airport, whatever, as opposed to that fraudster, Ben Cline, who pretends he did something to get that money here,” Swecker said. “We know he didn’t. So thank you very much.”

She celebrated the opening of the Democratic office as the 17th party election headquarters in the state, including three in the 6th Congressional District. She also took aim at J.D. Vance, Trump’s recently announced vice presidential running mate and current Ohio senator.

“JD Vance, I’m for Appalachia, you’re not,” Swecker said. “I mean, you know, it’s not like the truth matters to those people. It’s not like the truth matters, but it does to us.”

She closed with applause and called on Kaine to speak.

Senator Tim Kaine returns to Staunton

As he did the last time he was in Staunton, Kaine spoke for the first time about his honeymoon in the area and his previous career in Richmond politics. Kaine was optimistic about the upcoming November election, noting the Democratic campaign’s spending in Virginia.

“We put it to the Biden campaign and they said we’re going to make sure we invest in Virginia,” Kaine said. “We’re not taking you for granted. Virginia went blue four times in a row, which seemed impossible. We want to go blue five times in a row and we’re going to do it, right?”

The crowd applauded. Kaine said he wanted to invest the funds in local Virginian organizers, people who would know the difference in pronunciation between Stan-ton and Staun-ton.

He then backed Mitchell: “If you want to know what kind of public servant someone is going to be, look at what they did before they said, ‘I’m going to put my name to it.’ What Ken Mitchell has done is serve his country in a patriotic way, and that’s the kind of public servant he’s going to be.”

Kaine was “pleased” with the Democratic slate of candidates for Congress and was especially hopeful that the Democrats would gain a majority in the House of Representatives.

Biden’s health and a new presidential candidate

Since the June 27 presidential debate, there have been Democratic calls for Biden to drop out of the race. Kaine celebrated the diversity of thought among Democrats, even as they disagree. That morning at the Staunton Farmers’ Market, he said there was one question on everyone’s mind.

“Okay, what about the debate? What about President Biden?” Kaine said they asked. “Let me tell you this, this is what I would ask of you, and this is what I’m so proud of on this team. We got this.”

Instead of dwelling on Biden’s health, Kaine compared Biden and Trump, again calling Trump “the biggest wrecker in the history of this country.” He continued to praise Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s policies and accomplishments, such as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and a $35 price cap on insulin, a necessary medication for people with diabetes.

Despite this, Kaine also said, “Obviously we have concerns about President Biden’s health.”

Kaine has publicly supported both Biden and Harris. Democratic discussions about replacing Biden on the ballot have included Harris as a successor. Whether Biden withdraws or not, Kaine said, is up to him.

“I know that about Joe too. If he looks in the mirror one day and says this is the hardest job in the world and it’s not something I can say for four years, I’m just going to go ahead and do it, he’ll tell us. Because that’s exactly the kind of person Joe Biden is. We don’t have to worry about whether the right decision is going to be made. We’re going to do what’s best for this country. We’re going to win this race.”

The News Leader, a ‘podunk paper’, in the news again

According to Kaine, Saturday was initially expected to be the day of the first Senate candidate debate between him and his Republican challenger, Hung Cao. Kaine said Cao would not debate him because “he is afraid.”

“In 2023, he started a PAC and raised over $100,000 to help Governor Youngkin flip both houses of the state legislature from blue to red,” Kaine explained, citing a story by The News Leader’s elections reporter. “How much of that did he spend helping others? Zero. He didn’t spend a dime, after extorting people for money and saying he would use it to help them win legislators. He didn’t spend a dime on that, he used it instead for his own campaign expenses and his own advisers, and then the Republicans lost both houses by one seat. What if he had actually done it? I’m actually glad he didn’t.”

Instead of answering questions from The News Leader’s election reporter, Cao called The News Leader a “podunk local paper” and dodged. Kaine had previously been critical of Cao’s response, saying Cao dodged similar questions about abortion access, the millions who would lose their health insurance if the Affordable Care Act were repealed and a controversial potential overhaul of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

“You’re not debating for yourself, you’re debating for the voters,” Kaine said. “Because if you’re going to represent them, they have a right to hear your views, ask you questions and make their own judgments. He won’t answer the question of why he said the Staunton paper was just a podunk local paper.”

Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the Public Transparency and Fairness Reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a tip or feedback for a story? It is welcome via email to [email protected]. Subscribe to us via newsleader.com.