Former US Ambassador to Malta Douglas Kmiec is focused on winning a Congressional seat in 2014, despite declaring his desire to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 presidential elections.
Mr Kmiec is standing as an independentcandidate for Congress in California’s 26th district, where he is a professor of constitutional law at Pepperdine University.
Last week, he took to Facebook to declare his interest in being Ms Clinton’s vice president, should she decide to run for the top job in 2016 as expected.
The former ambassador told Times of Malta: “My complete focus at the moment, with the exception of the needs of my family and my students, is the well-being of the people in the 26th district.”
Mr Kmiec admitted he had his work cut out running as an independent with no paid staff and no campaign funding behind him.
“I intend to do what I’m already doing: meeting people face to face, hearing their needs and aspirations and, where possible, lending a hand wherever that can be productively done,” he said.
He will ignore professional advice on raising and spending in excess of $1 million on his Congressional campaign, saying such money would be better spent on education and healthcare.
The genial law professor said a “significant number” of volunteers were helping his campaign. “It is upon their efforts, and my own study and speaking and dedication to the service of others, that I will pray my message can be heard,” he said.
Mr Kmiec raised some eyebrows in the US last week when he declared on Facebook he was “pursuing the vice presidency of US; if all goes well that possibility will turn on the judgement of President Hillary Clinton.”
I will pray my message can be heard
The news was picked up by politics news site Politico, prompting blogger Josh Blackman to describe Mr Kmiec’s Facebook posts as “weird” and “surreal”.
Mr Kmiec is aware that the vice presidential pick falls within the discretion of the presidential nominee.
“It is far too early to ask Ms Clinton for her thinking on that subject,” he said.
Nevertheless, he said he had communicated with the former secretary of state on important subjects of diplomacy and foreign policy.
“We have much in common. Should the people of the 26th district approve, I would hope to be in a Congress devoted to laying the foundational groundwork for an unprecedented level of cooperation and achievement – inspired by her – between the executive and legislative branches.”
Mr Kmiec was appointed ambassador to Malta in 2009. He resigned in 2011 in the wake of a report by the Office of Inspector General that claimed he was spending too much time on writings and speeches unrelated to bilateral relations.
The devout Catholic said Ms Clinton had always been “highly complimentary and encouraging” of his work.
He believes that if selected as her running mate he would be a bridge between Ms Clinton and the Catholic community, moderate Republicans and independents.
“Depending upon the issues that dominate the 2016 elections, I would expect that my balanced approach, which welcomes the stranger, addresses the needs of labour, so that economic fairness prevails for domestic and foreign workers, and keeps in mind responsible border security without the intellectual and cultural insult of building a fence, will give us plenty of common ground upon which to stand,” he said.