Tim Kaine said the Democratic ticket will remain focused on North Carolina. | AP Photo Kaine: We're not taking North Carolina for granted Even though recent polls are trending in Clinton's direction, her running mate reminds a crowd in Asheville: 'North Carolina is really, really important this year.'

ASHEVILLE, N.C.— Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine took the stage here to an approbative crowd and extended applause, promising a message of economic growth and job opportunities under Hillary Clinton that many North Carolinian voters already seem to be buying.

“We’re here because North Carolina is really, really important this year,” Kaine said to thunderous applause, telling the crowd the campaign isn’t taking the battleground state for granted even as Clinton soars in the polls. “I think Democrats are going to have a big, big win.”


Kaine also doubled down on Donald Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns after Kaine and Clinton released their 2015 returns on Friday in an effort to turn up the pressure on the GOP nominee.

Trump “claims it’s because he’s under audit. If he’s under audit, there’s even more of a reason to release them,” Kaine said.

“We released our tax returns because we believe that Americans … have a right to know what is the financial situation of folks who are running to be president and vice president,” he added.

What was once a competitive state now is trending increasingly in Clinton's direction, recent polls suggest. Clinton, narrowly beating Trump by about 2 points in June, was up 11 points over the GOP nominee in a Wall Street Journal-NBC poll posted last week.

Kaine spoke for about 40 minutes in Asheville, delivering his usual stump speech in his aw-shucks style — “Do we want a ‘you’re hired’ president or a ‘you’re fired’ president,” he asked at one point — but peppered with personal anecdotes about his previous treks to the city, including a perilous-sounding kayaking adventure.

“I used to be a kayaker,” Kaine said to a nearly full gymnasium attached to a career center for low-income residents on the outskirts of downtown Asheville, “but there got to be a point when I turned over, I started to think about my life insurance policy.”

Near the end of his speech, he highlighted North Carolina’s unconstitutional voting rights law, continuing a trend of late to give the issue a prime spotlight in his stump speeches.

The crowd clapped and laughed along at Kaine’s prompts, many holding “Stronger Together” signs passed out by campaign aides and one man walking around hoisting a homemade poster with “Kaine train” written in block letters above a drawing of a train engine.

“We’re pretty smart people, we’re not gullible people – we’re not going to be tricked by Trump,” Kaine said, as the crowd cheered.

Kaine was introduced by his wife, former Virginia Education Secretary Anne Holton, who was at her first campaign event since the Clinton bus tour right after the Democratic convention.

“We’re actually having a blast doing this together,” Holton said.

“If I get to do an event with Anne, it’s like vacation,” he added.