Who should Hillary Clinton pick as her VP?

[Bull Moose Base]

Martin Heinrich

what does he bring to the ticket?

A Republican senate (and no change in the presidential election)

[Bull Moose Base]

By the time Hillary is willing to answer VP questions at all ( a year from now?) she will be asked  whether she'd consider a woman and give the obvious answer: gender and ethnicity are not a factor. She'll probably avoid a pick that would be awkward to explain or look too political, like Castro, or even someone like Bullock.

I used to think if, come selection time, she had a double digit lead or close to it, if she'd be emboldened to pick a woman or even McAuliffe but with the choice happening 2 months earlier than usual, the chances of that go down a bit.

As far as political considerations of the VP pick, it will depend on the specifics of who she is running against, what issues are in play but historically, running mates almost never help; people vote for or against the top of the ticket. Kaine's being from Virginia is a mild asset. If the nominee is Bush or Rubio, his Spanish fluency helps. If it's Walker or Kasich, his Christian fluency helps. As the first statewide officeholder to endorse Obama in 2007, he puts to bed any delusions about that still being a thing. But really, that is all gravy. Kaine's biggest asset is really just that he is uncontroversial and won't create a distraction

The downside is, unless I'm wrong, his appointed successor serves only until a 2017 special which would  put his seat in play a year earlier than scheduled. Dems would either have to defend it twice in 2 years, or, like Brown-Warren, have a chance to win it back in 2018 if they lose it. Hillary obviously sees what's happening with the Loretta Lynch nomination and with senate control up in the air, Sherrod Brown, Martin Heinrich are absolute no-go's. Probably Cory Booker too. (Christie did call a special election to replace Lautenberg, but that was with an eye on his own re-election setting up a presidential run. If Menendez's seat opens up now, wouldn't be all that shocking to see Christie flip. My favorite scenario to imagine is Christie's presidential run being a disaster, Booker getting tapped for VP and for the replacement, Christie relishing pissing off the party. Still, Booker is doubtful.) Bennet will run for re-election and if he's looking strong, just leave him there.

I also think everyone is exaggerating the importance of a VP being young. Most of the weight in getting young voters to the polls will fall to people like Obama, Warren, etc. Having a VP in their 50s as opposed to 60s just isn't a big deal. That said, there aren't a ton of great choices who are over 60. John Lynch, Gary Locke and that might be it.

Kaine looks a stronger frontrunner to be VP than any Republican presidential candidate is to win any state primary. Which, by the way, is ridiculous.