“It’s important to remember: poverty isn’t confined to our cities,” Tim Kaine said. | Getty Kaine calls for broad rethink to combating poverty

At a small nonprofit in Detroit, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said America is not a nation where people “walk on by” those in poverty.

“The question before us in this historic election is: Do we walk on by, or do we go over and try to help?” Kaine asked supporters at FOCUS:HOPE, a Detroit nonprofit focused on addressing poverty and racial reconciliation. “Even if we don’t know all the answers, even if we don’t know all the words to say, do we at least roll up our sleeves, and do whatever we can to make life better?”


In a city whose history Donald Trump channels into his narrative of a nation that neglects its workers through corrupt trade deals, Kaine spoke of not just rebuilding Detroit but reshaping the city and the country into a place where those in poverty are no longer in peril through an agenda put forth by him and Hillary Clinton.

“You know that as well as anyone here in Detroit,” Kaine said. "As the auto industry has roared to life once again, this amazing city has shown a true comeback spirit. But you’re just getting started. But like many of our great cities, Detroit still faces the challenges of concentrated poverty.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson famously declared war on poverty in 1964, but in order to eliminate it completely, Kaine said, Americans must understand that impacts more than just cities.

“It’s important to remember: poverty isn’t confined to our cities,” Kaine said. “And it isn’t only found in the places we normally think of, like isolated parts of Appalachia or rural America or Indian country.”

But it is more than understanding where poverty exists, the former mayor of Richmond, Virginia, added. You also have to comprehend its legacy.

“We have to examine root causes like the legacy of racial discrimination, underinvestment in communities, or holes in the social safety net that are still too easy to fall through if you get hit with a sudden medical bill from an illness or accident,” Kaine said.

