A beaming Hillary Clinton introduces Tim Kaine in Miami

MIAMI — Sen. Tim Kaine called Hillary Clinton his soulmate on Saturday, in his first appearance as her vice presidential pick in front of a crowd of 5,000 at Florida International University.

And Kaine, who was seen as the safe and more centrist choice for Clinton, showed that even though he is self-admittedly “boring,” he is a skilled and natural campaigner who can reach out to minority voters.

The presumptive Democratic nominee introduced Kaine as “everything Donald Trump and Mike Pence are not” and a “progressive who likes to get things done,” before taking a seat behind him and beaming as he introduced himself to the crowd.

“For many of you, this is the first time you’ve ever heard my name,” Kaine said. “But that’s OK because I’m excited for us to get to know each other.”

Kaine sketched out his personal history — helping his dad in a steel shop in Kansas City, marrying his wife Anne Holton (“the best decision of my life”), working in Honduras with Jesuit missionaries, and becoming a civil rights lawyer fighting housing discrimination. He leaned into his considerable political experience, even in a year when antiestablishment feelings are strong, telling the crowd that he’s one of only 20 people in history who have served as a senator, mayor and governor.

With a nod toward to the local Miami community, Kaine showcased his fluent Spanish at the rally, saying he and Clinton were “compañeros de alma,” or soulmates, and describing his core values picked up during a year as a missionary in Honduras as fe, familia and trabajo (faith, family and work). He also explicitly reached out to the immigrants in the crowd, asking anyone who became a naturalized U.S. citizen to raise their hand. “Thanks for choosing us!” he said. Kaine told the crowd that he and Clinton would work to get immigration reform passed if elected.

Kaine used his family history to draw a contrast with Trump. He mentioned that his son, Nat, was in the audience and about to deploy in three days to Europe with the Marines. He said having a son in the armed services underscored the importance of this election. “They deserve a commander in chief with experience and the temperament to lead,” he said.

Though Kaine is not an attack dog, he sounded a feisty note when describing how he had won statewide election in Virginia despite the National Rifle Association’s opposing him.

“They’ve campaigned against me in every statewide race I’ve ever run, but I’ve never lost an election,” he said. “That’s just like an extra cup of coffee to me, folks! It just gets me more excited. I’m 8-0, and I’m not about to let that change.”

A Clinton aide said the former secretary of state chose Kaine because of some advice her campaign chair John Podesta gave: to pick someone whom you are happy to see walking in the room. The event ran nearly an hour late, in part because Kaine and Clinton got carried away chatting with each other. The two appeared to get along, and Kaine’s folksy and genuine aura may help Clinton, who is viewed by some as robotic and untrustworthy.

Clinton’s decision to pick Kaine instead of a more liberal politician, such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, has disappointed some in her party who wanted a sign from Clinton that she would embrace the agenda of her vanquished primary rival, Bernie Sanders. The leak this week of thousands of Democratic National Committee emails, which suggested that staffers worked against Sanders in the primary, will probably stoke that discontent ahead of next week’s convention in Philadelphia.

A few protesters briefly interrupted the Kaine event shouting “DNC leaks!” before they were ejected.

Republicans are attempting to paint Kaine as a centrist choice that betrays the left’s liberal base. RNC consultant Sean Spicer called them the most “establishment” ticket in history, and RNC Chair Reince Priebus said Kaine does “nothing” to unify the party.

GOP nominee Donald Trump fired off a series of tweets on Saturday morning, deriding Kaine’s choice and appealing to Sanders’ supporters.

“The Bernie Sanders supporters are furious with the choice of Tim Kaine, who represents the opposite of what Bernie stands for. Philly fight?” Trump asked.

Meanwhile, President Obama, who nearly chose Kaine as his vice president in 2008, sent an email to his supporters arguing that Kaine is a “true progressive” and a “progressive fighter.”