A Clinton-Warren Ticket in 2016? Maybe.

As we start looking toward the general election, the speculation over vice presidential choices is now a worthwhile topic. Hillary Clinton has a decent bench of prospects, but one name that many progressive activists often float is that of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Report from Mic:

Hillary Clinton-Elizabeth Warren 2016?

Don’t count it out, the Clinton campaign says.

In an interview with the Boston Globe, campaign chairman John Podesta said that the former secretary of state isn’t ruling out a female running mate — hinting at the possibility of a historic all-female ticket and generating speculation about Warren, the Massachusetts senator and progressive favorite.

“We’ll start with a broad list and then begin to narrow it. But there is no question that there will be women on that list,” Podesta told the Globe.

The case for Warren: For a campaign seeking to woo progressive supporters of Bernie Sanders, who continues to soldier on in the Democratic primary contest despite a landslide loss to Clinton in New York on Tuesday, Warren may be an attractive option.

Her stemwinders against big banks and free trade agreements have endeared her to many of the same populist-minded voters drawn to Sanders’ candidacy, and her liberal luster was such that some progressive groups urged her to mount a presidential bid of her own.

Warren resisted those entreaties, but she has inserted herself into the 2016 debate with gusto — leveling withering attacks on Republican candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, and applauding elements of both Clinton’s and Sanders’ proposals to take on Wall Street.

For voters wary of Clinton’s Wall Street ties, a Warren pick could provide some measure of assurance that Clinton is committed to financial reform — and may go a long way toward inspiring enthusiasm from the Democratic base.

You could look at this one of two ways. You could argue that an all-female ticket might be too much to push on the electorate after a couple hundred years of all-male tickets. However, it will depend on whether Hillary needs some serious draw to try and cobble together the Obama coalition that brought victories in 2008 and 2012.

Perhaps it’s worth arguing that one woman, even being on the top of the ticket, is not groundbreaking enough to bring out a mass of new voters on the Democratic side.

On the other hand, it may be worth arguing that Hillary needs some “balance” on the ticket, as is often conventional wisdom in running mate selection. Perhaps she needs someone who is, in fact, male, and perhaps younger than she is. Maybe the age doesn’t matter, but maybe the female-male ticket with a popular VP choice would be a draw in the general election.

All of this speculation points to what may be a very likely reality that whoever the Republican nominee is, they’ll be inclined to select a female vice presidential nominee to balance the “awe” factor of the first female as a nominee of a major party.

This is all speculation, Hillary hasn’t quite clinched the nomination yet and there are several primary contests to go. We could be talking about a Bernie-Warren ticket in upcoming weeks depending on how things shake out.