EXCLUSIVE: We won’t know until likely tomorrow whether Tim Kaine will be Hillary Clinton’s running mate, but we do know that the Virginia senator shares some high-level and deep-pocketed Hollywood support with the former Secretary of State. We also know that Disney’s Bob Iger and Warner Bros’ Kevin Tsujihara as well as ICM Partners Chris Silbermann, met with Kaine when he was most recently in L.A.
Kaine was in town Monday for an intimate fundraising dinner at the home of UTA managing director Jay Sures, sources tell Deadline. A longtime pal and supporter of the former Virginia governor, Sures hosted around 30 people to sit and sup with Kaine, who is still running for re-election to a second Senate term in 2018.
Among the high-powered and well-heeled guests were Turner Entertainment CCO Kevin Reilly, Fox’s Dana Walden, big Clinton backer and UTA client Chuck Lorre, and former Paramount boss Sherry Lansing. Having appeared with Clinton as recently as July 15 at a rally in his state, Kaine was complimentary of her at the Sures event, I hear.
While Iger and Tsujihara were not at that dinner, both sat individually with Kaine earlier this week – with neither Democratic-contributing CEOs likely ignoring the potential elevation of the senator that is in the political ether.
Sures is not a stranger to the VP biz – the UTA exec was an open supporter of current Veep Joe Biden making a bid for the top job in the 2016 White House race. Of course with Biden having taken himself out of the running last fall, it never hurts to start looking to the future.
A potential choice for Barack Obama’s VP in 2008, Kaine is presumed to be in competition with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for the No. 2 spot on the Clinton ticket.
With the Democratic National Convention set to start July 25 in Philadelphi, Clinton is expected to make her VP choice known tomorrow, which would give her and whoever gets the nod a chance to campaign together this weekend and make that now-prerequisite 60 Minutes joint appearance as Donald Trump and Mike Pence did last weekend.
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