Hillary Clinton’s selection of Tim Kaine as running mate — announced late Friday evening — has been widely praised as a brilliant choice by media elites. They say that Kaine is a “serious lawmaker,” a “sunny” politician who puts Donald Trump’s dark vision of and for the nation in stark relief, and a dedicated public servant with swing-state appeal.

Despite howls of discontent from the Left, they’ve assured us that Kaine is a “progressive fighter.” Perhaps the Daily Beast most succinctly captured the media’s ecstatic reaction: “Holy Crap, Tim Kaine Just Killed It.”

Anyone who’s paid attention to Virginia politics was not be surprised by Kaine’s reception: he has spent years building a reputation as a genial politician dedicated to evidence-based, centrist public policy. And by all accounts, he’s a decent man, sincerely committed to Democratic Party politics.