Tim Kaine just squashed all those rumors he's running for president in 2020

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

published 17 November 2016

Sen. Tim Kaine's (D-Va.) future doesn't hold any presidential plans. The former Democratic vice presidential candidate made it clear Thursday that he will not be running for president in 2020 — or, probably, ever. "I have been through the VP stakes twice, and came close once and got on the ticket, and won Virginia and won the popular vote and lost — so I came close the second time," Kaine said in his first public statement since he and running mate Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election last week. This election marked the first race Kaine has lost in his political career.

Kaine is planning to focus all his energy on his upcoming Senate re-election race in 2018. And while Democrats might be bummed America's dad won't make another run for the White House, at least one Republican thinks this is a "wise" decision: "After the voters of Virginia go to the polls in 2018 to weigh in on his dramatic abandonment of virtually everything he's ever stood for to be Hillary’s running mate, it would be very difficult for then former-Senator Kaine to get any traction at all," Virginia GOP Chairman John Whitbeck said in a statement.