Who should Hillary Clinton pick as her VP? Round 2

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Martin Heinrich or Castro would be my two choices.

FL; NV; AZ; NM; CO; and Pa are critical in this election.

[Ogre Mage]

Conventional wisdom holds that the first rule of picking a running mate is "due no harm."  Kaine would I think be the most anodyne possible pick.  Obviously, the fact he is a senator and former governor from a key swing state doesn't hurt.  And having served as a lieutenant governor as well, he may be more comfortable with being No. 2 than some other possible choices.  Since McAuliffe would appoint Kaine's successor there is no trouble there either.  In some ways, the choice would not be too different from Obama's selection of Biden.

However, another piece of conventional wisdom is that it would be a good idea for Clinton to groom the next generation.  If she is intent on pushing the Democratic Party's demographic edge to the max, a Clinton/Castro ticket presses upon almost all the salient points.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/09/julian-castro-is-in-vp-training-camp.html

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Clinton needs the Generation X and millennials, Castro is 40 years old, Dems dont need any more Boomers.

[WVdemocrat]

Quick question to the OP, will there be a fixed number of candidates eliminated or will they be eliminated if they are below a certain percentage?

[retromike22]

Quick question to the OP, will there be a fixed number of candidates eliminated or will they be eliminated if they are below a certain percentage?

I usually eliminate the lowest 20-25% in each round, but sometimes more or less if I see that there's a distinct break between the lowest ones and the rest. So in this round I may eliminate 5-7 candidates.

[LeBron]

I would most prefer Tammy Baldwin, Michael Bennet, John Hickenlooper or Steve Bullock, but I doubt any of them will go for it. I voted for them anyways in addition to Booker, Castro, Kaine, the two Minnesotans and Heinrich who would also make great picks. It might be best though if she had a younger male on her ticket.

Brown becoming VP wouldn't work I don't think (as awesome as it would be to see him that close to the Presidency). Republicans would get his Senate seat that way, and as is he much rather prefers being active on the Senate floor rather than being a Do-Nothing VP.

[WVdemocrat]

Quick question to the OP, will there be a fixed number of candidates eliminated or will they be eliminated if they are below a certain percentage?

I usually eliminate the lowest 20-25% in each round, but sometimes more or less if I see that there's a distinct break between the lowest ones and the rest. So in this round I may eliminate 5-7 candidates.

Thanks for clearing that up.

[Bull Moose Base]

This forum's obsession with Tim Kaine is annoying.

I know, right? He wouldn't be a bad pick, it's just that there's other good (better even) picks.

I find it also hard to believe that Clinton, who puts loyalty above all, would pick one of Obama's closest friends and confidants(sp?) as her VP. It seems to me that Kaine is used as a decoy while they vet other names.

What's the basis for thinking the Clintons have some grudge against Obama again?

Also, the fact that Kaine is a friend of Obama's actually makes that less likely they would feel betrayed by his endorsement in 2007. Besides which, he wasn't especially negative toward Hillary. And most of all, they're more interested in winning and then having a VP (and senate make-up) that helps her as prez than settling scores.

I don't quite understand the Bullock thing. Montana is a very small population state, Bullock is in his first term and, at least with Schweitzer, he demonstrated some fluency in international affairs. How is Bullock on foreign policy? Maybe but he feels like an odd pick. As opposed to Locke who was Ambassador to China while she ran State, has been a 2-term governor of a bigger state and Commerce Secretary.

Again, Heinrich risks forfeiting a seat so that's a no-go. Are millennials so dumb that they can't vote for someone who in their 50s or older? I bet they're not.

[Brewer]

This forum's obsession with Tim Kaine is annoying.

I know, right? He wouldn't be a bad pick, it's just that there's other good (better even) picks.

I find it also hard to believe that Clinton, who puts loyalty above all, would pick one of Obama's closest friends and confidants(sp?) as her VP. It seems to me that Kaine is used as a decoy while they vet other names.

What's the basis for thinking the Clintons have some grudge against Obama again?

Also, the fact that Kaine is a friend of Obama's actually makes that less likely they would feel betrayed by his endorsement in 2007. Besides which, he wasn't especially negative toward Hillary. And most of all, they're more interested in winning and then having a VP (and senate make-up) that helps her as prez than settling scores.

I don't quite understand the Bullock thing. Montana is a very small population state, Bullock is in his first term and, at least with Schweitzer, he demonstrated some fluency in international affairs. How is Bullock on foreign policy? Maybe but he feels like an odd pick. As opposed to Locke who was Ambassador to China while she ran State, has been a 2-term governor of a bigger state and Commerce Secretary.

Again, Heinrich risks forfeiting a seat so that's a no-go. Are millennials so dumb that they can't vote for someone who in their 50s or older? I bet they're not.

What's the basis?! Members of the Atlas are personal friends of the Clintons and know every inner working of their minds. Duh.

In all seriousness, when it comes to Hillary Clinton, I think one of the bigger issues that her critics have been making and will continue to make throughout the campaign is her being wealthy and out-of-touch with average Americans. I certainly disagree with this, but I recognize that there are folks who have qualms with it. That's why I think Steve Bullock, a westerner who pulls off a great "average Joe you'd want to have a beer with" look pretty damn well, who also notably fought pretty hard against the Citizens United ruling as Attorney General (can help prove that Clinton wants to get big money out of politics) would be a fantastic pick.

[Landslide Lyndon]

This forum's obsession with Tim Kaine is annoying.

I know, right? He wouldn't be a bad pick, it's just that there's other good (better even) picks.

I find it also hard to believe that Clinton, who puts loyalty above all, would pick one of Obama's closest friends and confidants(sp?) as her VP. It seems to me that Kaine is used as a decoy while they vet other names.

What's the basis for thinking the Clintons have some grudge against Obama again?

Also, the fact that Kaine is a friend of Obama's actually makes that less likely they would feel betrayed by his endorsement in 2007. Besides which, he wasn't especially negative toward Hillary. And most of all, they're more interested in winning and then having a VP (and senate make-up) that helps her as prez than settling scores.

I don't quite understand the Bullock thing. Montana is a very small population state, Bullock is in his first term and, at least with Schweitzer, he demonstrated some fluency in international affairs. How is Bullock on foreign policy? Maybe but he feels like an odd pick. As opposed to Locke who was Ambassador to China while she ran State, has been a 2-term governor of a bigger state and Commerce Secretary.

Again, Heinrich risks forfeiting a seat so that's a no-go. Are millennials so dumb that they can't vote for someone who in their 50s or older? I bet they're not.

It's not so much a matter of grudge anymore. It's just that they'd want a person who is close to them and feel they can trust.
Besides that, has Clinton ever met and talked with Kaine to see if they have any chemistry? Because that was the no 1 reason why Bill picked Gore and Obama chose Biden.

[Beet]

But Tim Kaine was a disaster at the DNC, and gave redistricting control to the GOP, thus screwing the party for a decade!

Oh wait, no one cares about that. Poor DNC performance only counts when you're from Florida.