Tim Kaine speaks at UW-Madison

Tim Kaine, running mate of presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, spoke at Gordon Dining Hall and Event Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The event was open to the public, including UW-Madison students.

Kaine was introduced by Regional Organizing Director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Maya Garcia, Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI), and Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). The three, though discussing other issues, spoke heavily about the importance of exercising one’s right to vote.

Kaine was met with a loud applause from Madison residents and UW students before diving into a speech filled with encouragement to vote, information about both candidates, as well as a large discussion about why Hillary Clinton would be the best option for the country.

Specific to this rally was Kaine’s focus on why Wisconsin’s vote is crucial for the democratic party.

“In presidential politics, you know, every state is important, every state has electoral votes. But, it usually kind of widdles down to about 12 or 13 states…towards the end of the election it widdles down to about six or seven states where all the action is – you guys are one of the six or seven,” said Kaine of Wisconsin.

Kaine continued on to encourage early voting, saying “the more people that can vote early, the more that you focus all your energy on election day on those who haven’t voted.”

“For college students, voting is important because you need to take control of your future,” said UW junior, Morgan Ryser.

Though Kaine did speak about Donald Trump, the speech seemed to focus mainly on the positive attributes of Clinton and her campaign.

“It is about the person,” said Kaine. “I am so proud to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate…Barack Obama said that Hillary Clinton is the most qualified person to be nominated by a major ticket for a long time and maybe ever.”

Kaine went on to talk about Clinton’s time as First Lady, including her ideas regarding health care which were later enacted by President Obama.

Many democratic students on the UW-Madison campus have worked tirelessly to spread the word about the Clinton campaign as well as encouraging people to vote, no matter who their chosen candidate may be.

Fifth year senior and long-time democrat Jack Nortman said, “college students should vote for Hillary because, especially in the UW system they are at distinct disadvantage graduating with an average of $28,000 in debt. Following off of what Bernie Sanders was able to do in galvanizing so much support from young people, Hillary has continued to work toward debt free college.”

Kaine wrapped up his speech by telling the crowd of the democratic party, “We’re underdog people…we stick up and battle for the underdog people and thats kind of a unifier for us. Just put it in your head, ‘I’m the underdog until they call me the winner.'”

For more information on where and how to vote in Wisconsin, visit myvote.wi.gov.