Hillary Also Has to Pick a Running Mate

Since Donald Trump has selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate, let’s start talking about whom Hillary Clinton might pick as a VP. The top choice has been Tim Kaine for some time. The betting odds have him at three times as likely as Tom Vilsack (66% to 20%) and twelve times as likely as Elizabeth Warren (5.9%). But there are arguments for others.

First, why does it make a difference? As we noted elsewhere, Donald Trump says his running mate won’t matter—that the veep pick hasn’t swayed and election since 1960.

Clinton, though, still has a few weeks to name her running mate, and the choice will test her steel as a potential president.

She’s under enormous pressure to go in one direction. She really should choose the other.

If you took any classes in political history, you were probably taught that running mates are chosen for the sake of regional balance, or to reunify a party riven along ideological lines. Times have changed. . .

The narrative on the left is that Clinton’s only real liability — the one existential threat to her candidacy — is the enthusiasm gap in her own party. . .And so the left is pushing hard for Elizabeth Warren. . .[or] a Latino candidate like Julian Castro or Tom Perez. . .

For Clinton, the smarter move. . .is to choose a more conventional running mate with a younger, more comfortable vibe. A swing-state senator like Virginia’s Tim Kaine or Colorado’s Michael Bennet could help reassure independents and maybe even draw some anti-Trump Republicans, too.

Or Clinton could do what she’s pretty good at, which is to split the difference. She might gravitate toward Sherrod Brown, the populist Ohio senator, who’s every bit the class warrior that Warren is, but with a less condescending touch and a proven ability to win working-class votes.

The article says that the vice president pick can reinforce, or complement the presidential candidate’s strengths. The vice president can also help govern, an important concern if one is interested in re-election. But the above article overlooks that Sherrod Brown would cost the Democrats a senate seat, and quite possibly, control of the senate.

Some are still arguing to have Bernie on the ticket.

Among those tested for the Democratic ticket, 39 percent of registered voters said Sanders would make them more likely to support Clinton, while 39 percent said it would have no impact and 20 percent said it would make them less likely. For self-identified liberals, 64 percent said Sanders on the ticket would make them more likely to vote for Clinton, surpassing the other five Democrats mentioned. Among Democrats, 53 percent said Sanders on the ticket would make a Clinton vote more likely, and 34 percent said it would not have an effect.

Bernie could bring out the base, but Dems would also like a veep candidate who could appeal to the white working class, the way Joe Biden does. Older white men are a particular weakness for Hillary.

Joe Biden on Monday shot down the notion that he would considering being Hillary Clinton’s running mate, saying, “That’s not my preferred route.”

“I have great respect for Hillary,” Biden said during an interview on MSNBC. “I’m going to work like the devil for her, but I’m not looking to be vice president again, and no one has talked to me.”

The New York Times is reporting (and everyone is repeating) that Hillary has been vetting a military man. A navy admiral might appeal to white men.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is vetting James G. Stavridis, a retired four-star Navy admiral who served as the 16th supreme allied commander at NATO, as a possible running mate, according to a person with knowledge of the vetting process. . .

During his four years as NATO’s supreme allied commander, he oversaw operations in the Middle East — Afghanistan, Libya and Syria — as well as in the Balkans and piracy off the coast of Africa.

Then there’s a successful businessman (sound familiar?) RealClearPolitics offers the top ten reasons why the Starbucks chief would be a good choice.

10. A progressive: advocate for gay marriage, free college tuition, racial justice, and gun control.

9. An outsider: outspoken critic of Washington politics that he described as “Broken promises — void of truth and leadership;” with appeal to the masses who don’t want another politician on the ticket.

8. An American success story: raised in a housing project in Brooklyn, to a football scholarship at Northern Michigan University, to CEO of one of the world’s most reputable companies, and now worth $3 billion.

7. A person of integrity: on almost all Top 10 Business Leaders lists, loving husband and father, person of faith, admired, even beloved by his employees.

6. Connects with people: New Yorkers by birth, Midwesterners by education, West Coast by career and the entire country through his work ethic and philanthropy.

5. Created a premier international brand: with broad appeal and brand loyalty that cuts across politics, religion, financial status, gender, sexual orientation, race, and age.

4. Complements Hillary’s deficiencies: outsider, corporate experience (Bill knew, “It’s the economy stupid.”), sports, entrepreneur, innovator, and a genuine passion for people.

3. Ideally suited to function as Vice President: charged with two critical tasks – to revitalize and rebrand the America economy in a post Brexit era and to fix the gridlock in Congress, the two tasks that become the focus of his VP campaign.

2. Prepared to be the President: his business acumen trumps Trump and his collaborative leadership style is far better suited to run the country than a senator or other elected official.

1. a dreamer with poetry in his soul: a passionate and caring voice for hope and optimism in a time of frustration and pessimism, an innovator eager to address the problems of race, poverty, and wellness, an optimist who sees the potential in people and in America. .

Although Tim Kaine seems a perfect fit in so many ways, Politico says he has drawbacks.

“An establishment Wall Street Democrat like Tim Kaine … will do nothing but confirm to progressives she’s learned nothing from this primary,” Jordan Chariton told Politico Magazine, who reports for the Bernie-friendly online talk show The Young Turks.

As many as 22 million potential voters in November are thought to be Sanders-leaning Democrats, and they’re looking for evidence that Clinton is paying some heed to the surprisingly strong insurgency of the socialist from Vermont. Bernie’s success was a clear anti-establishment uprising, strong enough that his supporters expect their agenda will now help shape the future of the party. But choosing Kaine may send them the opposite message: This is her party now, and you aren’t the ones calling the shots.

That’s a surprising response to a staunch progressive.

In the Senate, Kaine tallied a respectable 90 percent score in the liberal Americans for Democratic Action rating of 2014 Senate votes. He once was thought to be too liberal to win a statewide race in Virginia.

What many liberals don’t like about Kaine is what many conservatives don’t like about Trump. He can “maneuver.” For instance, he has a perfect score from Planned Parenthood, yet, as a Catholic, he told Meet the Press, “I don’t like it personally. I’m opposed to abortion.” He also likes free trade.

While the Bernie and Cruz folks may not like it, there is something to be said about a candidate who listens, and looks for mutual benefit, rather than always standing for strict, ideological purity.