What his public side says must be tempered by the fact that he is a Virginia Democrat. For lots of Virginia’s history, they were classic Dixie-crats. In office, he continued protecting the rights of LGBT+ individuals the way he could: executive orders on government jobs. The state Congress would not allow it to be state policy, too many rural coal towns that would evicerate their local representatives if they tried to make it a state wide law.

He started an attempt to extend health insurance coverage to same-sex couples, which the following Republican governor got dismantled. Kaine did get hospital visitation extended to same-sex couples.

He isn’t Mark Warner. But he is widely accepted even by conservatives (not the Trump wing-nuts, obviously) in the state and surrounding states. As a strategic choice, he will help swing “Never Trump” conservatives away from third parties. Yeah, there were plenty of more liberal people Hillary could have chosen, but Kaine isn’t as moderate as he appears: Virginia politicians just learn to appear moderate to survive.