Kaine tells Missouri delegates that he’s a Harry Truman Democrat

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine told Missouri delegates Thursday morning exactly who he is:

“I’m a Harry Truman Democrat,” he said.

Introduced by Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, Kaine said Truman’s combination of liberal on economic and social issues and strong on defense is “kind of the way I look at things.”

Republican nominee Donald Trump’s proposal to potentially walk away from alliances with other nations is a huge mistake, Kaine said.

“That’s an aspect of `Trumpism’ that really engages me,” said Kaine, who grew up in the Kansas City area and whose parents still live there.

He also chided Trump for misrepresenting him Wednesday as the governor of New Jersey. Kaine, a U.S. senator, is a former governor of Virginia.

“Look, he’s new to this,” Kaine said. “You’ve got to give him some time.”

Kaine described himself as “not a trash talker,” but said he doesn’t mind “drawing a contrast and, I don’t mind calling out bad behavior, and I don’t mind calling out foolishness when I see it. I may not call you a name, but I may call what you propose all kinds of names.”

Then he added:

“I’m going to have an awful lot of fun with Donald Trump between now and election day.”

A University of Missouri graduate, Kaine ticked off the names of several state parks where he once spent time and cited an incident at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park where he dislocated both shoulders while rock climbing.

“I’ve got a lot of great memories and some I’m not looking forward to repeating,” Kaine said.

“Nothing would make me happier than to come do some campaigning in my old stomping grounds in Missouri with a lot of my old friends. So let’s make it happen.”

The nominee also told delegates how proud he is to be a “strong man supporting a strong woman leader.

“How many strong women have supported strong male political figures?” he asked. “We ask them to all the time…And women have stood strong.”

He pointed out that women comprise 19 percent of the members of Congress, the highest total ever. But the figure ranks 75^th in the world and way below the global average. He said women make up 26 percent of Iraq’s ruling body and 28 percent of Afghanistan’s.

A Clinton presidency will create a whole group of successors who will eventually boost the totals of women in government.

“They can see, ‘Now I can do this,’ ” Kaine said.

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 10:54 AM with the headline "Kaine tells Missouri delegates that he’s a Harry Truman Democrat."