democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton introduced her running mate, sen. tim kaine, as a future partner in the white house and hinted at an outsize role he may play in her potential administration. the former virginia governor already is playing such a part in the campaign by energizing activists in his home state and helping the clinton campaign save time and money in what once was a republican stronghold. while mrs. clinton<u+2019>s recent lead has tightened in other battleground states, she maintains an advantage in this swing state of about 9 percentage points, double the margin before she named mr. kaine to her ticket, according to a real clear politics average of polls. <u+201c>there was a lot of excitement leading up to his selection, and the response has been overwhelming,<u+201d> democratic state sen. jeremy mcpike said. mr. mcpike said hundreds of supporters are planning a pilgrimage<u+00a0>on tuesday<u+00a0>to farmville, va., where mr. kaine and his republican counterpart, indiana gov. mike pence, will briefly eclipse the tops of their respective tickets during the only scheduled debate between the vice-presidential nominees. vice-presidential candidates usually add little significant political value to their running mate<u+2019>s campaign. but it is unusual for a presidential candidate to select her no. 2 from such a consequential battleground as mr.<u+00a0>kaine<u+2019>s home state, said kyle kopko, co-author of <u+201c>the vp advantage: how running mates influence home state voting in presidential elections.<u+201d> <u+201c>there<u+2019>s never been anything this clear,<u+201d> mr. kopko said about the importance of the kaine nomination on the electoral map. <u+201c>i just cannot think of anybody better to have by my side on the campaign trail, in the white house,<u+201d> mrs. clinton said about her running mate in july. <u+201c>we are going to take on the challenges that are hurting americans. we are going to give the middle class a raise. we are going to give tax relief to working families.<u+201d> even before his addition to the ticket, an influx of new voters had helped loosen republicans<u+2019> hold on the old dominion. the arrival of latino, asian-american and college-educated voters to the state<u+2019>s northern suburbs near washington, d.c., helped deliver the state to barack obama in 2008<u+2014>the first democratic presidential nominee to win there since lyndon johnson in 1964<u+2014>and again in 2012. in 2013, terry mcauliffe <u+2019>s victory in the governor<u+2019>s race gave democrats control of all three of the statewide constitutional offices<u+2014>governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general<u+2014>and both u.s. senate seats for the first time in more than 40 years. still, republican presidential nominee donald trump is treating virginia as a top priority. either he or mr. pence have traveled to the state about once a week since the republican national convention in july. his campaign, along with some help from the national rifle association, aired about $3 million in tv ads in the state last month. <u+201c>virginia is a very important state,<u+201d> mr. trump told supporters during a sept. 6 campaign stop in virginia beach. <u+201c>we have to win.<u+201d> corey stewart, the chairman of mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign in virginia, said the republican<u+2019>s team will start advertising in the state soon. <u+201c>virginia is a must-win state,<u+201d> mr. stewart said. <u+201c>our ground game finally, since labor day, has started to coalesce. we got a bit of a late start, but it<u+2019>s going to be very strong.<u+201d> mrs. clinton, meanwhile, hasn<u+2019>t set foot in virginia since her convention, spending her increasingly valuable time almost exclusively in florida, north carolina, pennsylvania and ohio. her campaign suspended her tv advertising campaign in virginia in august. instead, mrs. clinton has leaned on visits by her surrogates. chelsea clinton, the former secretary of state<u+2019>s daughter, campaigned in roanoke on sept. 14. during a campaign stop last week in fairfax, first lady michelle obama criticized mr. trump for questioning of her husband<u+2019>s u.s. citizenship and rallied young voters to get out to the polls on election day. mr. kaine, a fluent spanish speaker, has been dispatched mostly to florida, where the campaign is trying to run up the margins with hispanic voters. but he has also campaigned around virginia, making stops in richmond, where he was mayor; in the richmond suburb of henrico county; and in norfolk. he was in alexandria last week when his campaign won the endorsement of republican john warner, a former u.s. senator who credited his three-decade relationship with mr. kaine as part of his reason to cross the partisan aisle. mr. warner spoke of mr. kaine in the kind of patriotic and religious tones usually reserved for fellow republicans, saying he has a strong <u+201c>family tradition,<u+201d> that he follows <u+201c>church and god,<u+201d> and embodies <u+201c>the principles that have kept this country strong.<u+201d> <u+201c>he exemplifies what this country needs foremost,<u+201d> mr. warner told reporters. in richmond, mr. kaine earned a reputation as a moderate for his votes to ban lap dancing and making it tougher to open adult bookstores, in addition to his support of some abortion restrictions. as governor, mr. kaine also pursued gun restrictions after the 2007 mass killings at virginia tech and won a smoking ban in restaurants. he specialized in housing discrimination lawsuits as a civil-rights lawyer, and he was selected mayor by a richmond city council that was mostly african-american. state sen. bryce reeves, a republican who is running for lieutenant governor, said mr. kaine understands the <u+201c>virginia way of doing business<u+201d> and <u+201c>isn<u+2019>t the type of politician who throws grenades.<u+201d> <u+201c>but make no mistake about it, his colors are on the clinton side,<u+201d> mr. reeves said, adding that that many virginia republicans were motivated to keep him out of the white house. <u+201c>virginians are a microcosm of america, and they<u+2019>re very angry. and trump has been the voice for those people, not hillary clinton.<u+201d> virginia democratic party chairwoman susan swecker said mr. kaine<u+2019>s nomination has increased enthusiasm in virginia for a ticket that is struggling to energize supporters in other battleground states. she said there was a noticeable uptick in volunteers for phone banking and canvassing immediately after he was selected. <u+201c>tim<u+2019>s attended the community festivals, the forums and we<u+2019>ve gotten to know him,<u+201d> said walter tejada, a democratic consultant in virginia. <u+201c>democrats are excited, and even more energized than before.<u+201d> write to michael c. bender at mike.bender@wsj.com
kaine<u+2019>s role is bolstered by his popularity at home - wsj
michael c. bender