Did Clinton Offer Kaine the VP Slot In Exchange for DNC Control?

No.

Some people think that Hillary Clinton can’t breathe without there being an ulterior motive.

Sure, there are plenty of valid criticisms one can level at her, but I tend to draw the line at accusations of behavior that are unfounded in fact or common sense. Unfortunately, as soon as one conspiracy is extinguished, another takes its place — and so many people are so sure of Clinton’s corruption that they are willing to accept such theories at face value without really thinking them through.

The latest one making the rounds is a doozy, so hold on to your tinfoil hats:

Hillary Clinton, in order to ensure that she had a lock on the 2016 nomination, convinced Tim Kaine to step down as DNC chair in 2011 and appoint Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Clinton’s ’08 campaign co-chair) as his successor. To compel him to step down, she offered to appoint him as Vice President on the 2016 ticket.

The only evidence supporting this accusation is circumstantial: Tim Kaine did resign as DNC chair in 2011, Debbie Wasserman Schultz did succeed him, and Clinton did nominate Kaine as VP. But even a cursory look at the context of those events is enough to put this accusation to rest.

First, Tim Kaine didn’t resign his chairmanship out of thin air: He resigned in 2011 in order to run for U.S. Senate. It’s perfectly reasonable to think that pursuing a full time election bid would have interfered with his duties as chair. And it’s hardly unheard of for DNC chairs to resign before their terms are up; in fact, it looks as though you have to go back to 1993 before you can find a DNC chair that served a full term.

Second, DNC chairs serve four year terms. Tim Kaine’s term was set to end in 2013, well before the end of Barack Obama’s second term. DNC Chairs almost never serve consecutive terms; it is extremely likely that someone new would have taken his place. In short, there would have been no need whatsoever for Clinton to compel Kaine to step down prematurely, because he would have done so anyway well in advance of Clinton’s potential second presidential bid.

Third, neither Tim Kaine nor Hillary Clinton appointed Debbie Wasserman Schultz to the DNC — President Obama did in 2011. The entire conspiracy theory is predicated on the idea that Kaine recommended Wasserman Schultz as his successor, but the decision wasn’t his to make. Trading political favors with Tim Kaine would have pointless; even if she did have to do a backroom deal (and I really, really don’t think she did), such a deal would have been made with Obama, not Kaine. I’d have to think Clinton is a better negotiator than to trade a spot on her ticket for nothing more than a recommendation.

Fourth, the incredibly thorough vetting process for Clinton’s VP pick has been well-documented, and there are plenty of very legitimate reasons why Tim Kaine was a natural pick to complete her ticket. It is, to say the least, far-fetched that Clinton would have promised such a pick five years in advance, without any vetting — not to mention premature, since there was no indication at that point that she’d make another run.

Finally, although this is admittedly the most nebulous of all the points made here, trading political favors for personal self-aggrandizement would be almost entirely out of character for Tim Kaine, who has been described as “cleaner than the board of health.” Even if you believe that Clinton is a bastion of corruption (a belief I would take exception to, but nonetheless), this whole theory seems to be an unwarranted smear of Tim Kaine. In a way, it’s funny how Tim Kaine can be a largely unknown entity for decades, but the moment he associates with Clinton, people are chomping at the bit to attack his character.

Even if you think the worst of Hillary Clinton — even if you really, honestly believe that she is a bastion of corruption — the fact of the matter is that it doesn’t take much examination to see that this theory makes very little sense.

So please, unless you’re in the business of helping Donald Trump’s odds in November, stop sharing accusations that have no basis in fact.