RAISING KAINE? – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:  It's only informed speculation, but signals point to Hillary Clinton choosing Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her running mate.  It would be a sound, common-sense choice, but the instable left is balking.  From The New York Times:

Democrats close to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign signaled strongly Thursday that she would choose Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her running mate, rounding out the ticket with a popular politician from a battleground state.

Both former President Bill Clinton and the White House have expressed their support for Mr. Kaine, but aides cautioned that Mrs. Clinton had not yet made a final decision and that other candidates were still under consideration.

Mrs. Clinton is widely expected to announce her choice in an email to supporters while on a campaign swing in Florida on Friday afternoon, an attempt to regain momentum the day after her Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, accepted his party’s nomination in Cleveland. With Mr. Kaine emerging as a clear favorite, one group already expressed disappointment at the prospect of the former governor of Virginia joining the ticket: liberals.

Many of the groups that backed Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in his Democratic contest against Mrs. Clinton had hoped she would extend an olive branch to the liberal wing of the party and choose a vice-presidential candidate whose stances on Wall Street and global trade deals closely aligned with those of Mr. Sanders.

COMMENT:  Of course, the choice could turn out to be someone else.  But Clinton knows that the base of the Democratic Party isn't enough to win an election, and reports say that she wants to firm up her national security credentials.  Kaine would be a sound choice. 

I also think the Clintons, who are hardly favorites at this site, would love to give the left a good stick in the eye.

The announcement may come as early as today.

July 22,  2016