PHILADELPHIA _ Sitting for their first interview together, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine answered the awkward question of whether Kaine runs the risk of being a third wheel in a White House where the first gentleman is a former president.
The question had lingered in the background as Clinton made her way through the vice presidential vetting process. Nobody expects Bill Clinton to fade into the background should his wife win. And when he was president, Hillary Clinton's deep involvement in governing was known to cause tension with the office of Vice President Al Gore, who was competing for attention to his own agenda.
"It's an embarrassment of riches," Kaine said in the interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, putting the best possible spin on the situation. Then, Clinton jumped in, assuring that all will be harmonious and that Bill Clinton is nothing other than a huge asset.
"It does happen to be a historical fact that my husband served as president for eight years," she said. "And there's a lot that happened which helped the American people during those eight years."
The interview later gave Kaine an opportunity to expound on his own resume, and why he is as prepared to jump in and do the job of president should the need arise. "As much as any human being would be ready, I'd be ready," he said. "You know what? You know, missionary, civil rights lawyer, local official, state official, federal official, like, I've _ I've climbed, and I haven't missed a rung on the ladder. And if it were to come that way, I could do it."
After a Republican convention in which delegates expressed their distaste for Clinton with angry chants of "Lock her up," both Clinton and Kaine said they will not be responding in kind this week in Philadelphia.
"I don't know what their convention was about, other than criticizing me," said Clinton, adding that she didn't feel threatened but was saddened by the aggressive chanting. "I seem to be the only unifying theme that they had. There was no positive agenda. It was a very dark, divisive campaign. And the people who were speaking were painting a picture of our country that I did not recognize."
Kaine, embracing a running-mate role that traditionally involves more in attacking the opposition as the nominee tries to keep above the fray, offered a slightly different view. But for Kaine, who has never had much of a reputation as a street fighter, pulling the gloves off seems a bit of a struggle.
"She's done a good job of letting the, you know, water go off her back on this," he said of Clinton. "That's not the way I feel. When I see this, you know, 'Crooked Hillary,' or I see the 'Lock her up,' it's just ridiculous. It is ridiculous."
