if tim kaine becomes the 48th<u+00a0>vice president, he will face a scenario that none of his predecessors had to navigate: two presidents in the white house. he views that as a <u+201c>bonus<u+201d> even though he admits that he and bill and hillary clinton would all have to figure out their roles in a new way if the democratic ticket prevails tuesday night. the virginia senator said he still would expect to be the last person in the room when mrs. clinton, the presidential nominee, makes a big decision. he says his approach to the job will be similar to vice president joe biden, who didn<u+2019>t request a specific portfolio but worked on a range of major issues. <u+201c>goal one is to be the principal adviser, the last person in the room, every major decision you are there with the president offering your two cents,<u+201d> mr. kaine said in an interview. <u+201c>hillary has been very clear that <u+2018>i want you to be that person arguing with me, challenging me, bringing your own experience to bear.<u+2019> <u+201d> unlike mr. biden and former vice president dick cheney, whose decisions from the start to rule out running for president in the future helped them build trust with their bosses, mr. kaine leaves open the possibility of a white house bid. ( mr. biden later changed his mind. ) mr. kaine plans to continue to serve in the senate if mrs. clinton were to lose the election. mr. kaine said he is eager to focus on economic issues and, in terms of foreign policy, latin and south america. he also said he<u+2019>d like to play a leading role in mrs. clinton<u+2019>s push for congress to pass a new authorization for the use of military force, or aumf, against islamic state. it<u+2019>s an issue he has championed in the senate, though he concedes he has <u+201c>a slightly different view<u+201d> than mrs. clinton on the power of the 2001 authorization that the obama administration currently uses as the legal justification for the islamic state fight. mr. kaine has said he has <u+201c>very grave doubts<u+201d> about whether the 2001 aumf allows the administration to wage the fight against islamic state, while mrs. clinton has said <u+201c>it certainly does.<u+201d> mr. kaine, 58 years old, wouldn<u+2019>t bring to the role a particular expertise that mrs. clinton is lacking, as mr. biden did in the obama administration with his experience in foreign affairs, decades in congress and connection to white, working-class voters. mrs. clinton has served as secretary of state, in the u.s. senate and in the white house as first lady. her husband has been president and a governor. mrs. clinton and mr. kaine both have relationships with local, state, congressional and democratic party officials stretching back more than three decades. in that sense, mrs. clinton wouldn<u+2019>t need mr. kaine to fill in gaps the same way president barack obama needed mr. biden. that makes the inherent challenge of gaining influence in a position john adams once called <u+201c>the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived<u+201d> even steeper for mr. kaine. his preferred foreign policy focus is on a part of the world that has been seen as being an afterthought for u.s. administrations. fluent in spanish, mr. kaine would like to apply his experience working with missionaries in honduras as a young man to making strides in latin and south america. <u+201c>most secretaries of state spend a lot of time flying east-west around the globe but they don<u+2019>t fly north-south that much,<u+201d> mr. kaine said. <u+201c>there are some real opportunities for us in the americas, and i would like to work on those, and the connection between those opportunities and the 45 million latinos here who care deeply about the countries where their families are from.<u+201d> however, his initial focus, if elected, would be on the economic and jobs package mrs. clinton plans to put forward in congress during the first 100 days of her presidency, he said, including consulting mayors and governors across the country. his role would be to <u+201c>shape the policy, bring the stakeholders to the table and then sell it on the hill,<u+201d> he said. when mrs. clinton first talked to him and his wife, anne holton, about joining her ticket, she said: <u+201c>you guys are empty nesters, so you have time at night to hang out with members of congress.<u+201d> mr. obama has been criticized for his scant socialization with members of congress. his critics and supporters alike have suggested more outreach to capitol hill may have made his legislative efforts more productive. mr. obama has said he disagrees and that republicans would have opposed his agenda anyway. mrs. clinton, if elected, could face even more gridlock in congress. mr. kaine said he would try to break through by figuring out what lawmakers from both parties want to achieve and finding common ground. <u+201c>people are in congress for a reason,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s not just to investigate. it<u+2019>s not just to obstruct. they<u+2019>re legislators so they came to do some things.<u+201d> while it<u+2019>s unclear what mr. clinton<u+2019>s role as first spouse would be should mrs. clinton win, mr. kaine suggested his wife might pick up some of the traditional first lady duties. <u+201c>is she second lady if there<u+2019>s no first lady?<u+201d> he asked.
as vice president, tim kaine plans to be an all-around adviser  - wsj
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