Who would be the strongest VP pick for Hillary Clinton?

[Figueira]

Tim Kaine, Cory Booker or Martin Heinrich.

I really don't understand why people keep suggesting Martin Heinrich when the Senate has the potential to be 50-50. Booker at least would be replaced by a Democrat within a year.

[Bull Moose Base]

Someone younger than 60.

Why?

Anyway, it depends who wins the GOP nomination and how. A good question is who are the likeliest picks for her if Trump is the nominee. Is she confident enough to pick McAuliffe or another woman? But her more pressing problem is winning the nomination now that the guy 6 years older than her is exciting younger voters.

[HAnnA MArin County]

Hector Balderas comes to mind.

[NeverAgain]

It's either Tim Kaine or Julian Castro. Any others are really not viable nationally. Julian Castro brings the latino vote and possibly FL, NV (Probs will cancel out if Rubio is on the ticket). Kaine balances out by really putting VA in Clinton's pocket, Clinton can already reach out to Latinos pretty easily with her immigration stance, and having a fluent Spanish speaker on the ticket is a good plus.

I say Kaine is her best option. Other then another pretty face Castro can be attacked pretty easily on experience and won't bring much to the table other then some latino votes which would probably go Hillary anyways.

[Blair]

It's either Tim Kaine or Julian Castro. Any others are really not viable nationally. Julian Castro brings the latino vote and possibly FL, NV

I can't see Castro pulling up the latino vote, he can't even speak spanish IIRC. It's like when people in 2013 said Rubio was the crown prince because Hispanics can vote for him

[Mister Mets]

Hector Balderas comes to mind.

Newly elected small state Attorney General?

It's not like they'll just have one candidate. There's likely to be a shortlist of some kind. People I see on it.

Mark Warner: Virginia. Very experienced. Better natural politician than Kaine. Successful businessman.

Tim Kaine: Virginia. Still pretty experienced. Demonstrated discipline as Warner's Lieutenant Governor/ DNC Chair. Governor who developed reputation on foreign policy issues.

Cory Booker: Popular African-American Senator with executive experience, and a comfort level in front of cameras.

Julian Castro: They've kinda built a potential Veep with him. Young Hispanic guy with a resume that looks okay.

Xavier Becerra: Latino with experience in congressional leadership, and a comfort in front of cameras as a prominent party surrogate.

Brian Schatz: Young progressive Senator in interracial marriage.

Chris Murphy: Young progressive favorite getting attention as policy leader. The Clintons were concerned he might run for President.

Michael Bennet: On paper, he seems to be the best. Age-appropriate Senator from the crucial swing state of Colorado, with a background in education, always one of the most important issues. Has not developed much of a national profile, though.

Tom Vilsack would be good too.

Vilsack has some advantages (good surrogate in the Midwest, resume) but he's probably too old.

What about Marilyn Mosby? She seems like the traditional attack dog role that the Clinton campaign needs.

Now I think you were making fun of me with the earlier response.

[pho]

Sherrod Brown. Progressive cred, Ohio, etc...

[Figueira]

Sherrod Brown. Progressive cred, Ohio, etc...

I'm sure Kasich will love the opportunity to appoint someone.

Hector Balderas is obviously too inexperienced, but maybe if he becomes Governor or Senator in the future he could be a Presidential candidate at some point?

[henster]

Castro would be a terrible choice, he is completely untested on the national stage, no FP cred what so ever. Was a figurehead Mayor for 5 years then HUD for 2 years that is not enough experience to be VP.

[NeverAgain]

It's either Tim Kaine or Julian Castro. Any others are really not viable nationally. Julian Castro brings the latino vote and possibly FL, NV

I can't see Castro pulling up the latino vote, he can't even speak spanish IIRC. It's like when people in 2013 said Rubio was the crown prince because Hispanics can vote for him

Like I said later in my piece, the Latino vote will generally go for Clinton anyways so Castro will just be an inexperienced male who can't even speak Spanish.

[AelroseB]

Kaine is some useless "Democrat" who lost 64 House seats on his watch as DNC chair. Next!

Yes, the Democrats lost the 2010 midterms because of Tim Kaine.  I mean, Obama's approval was just soaring back then!  Everybody loved what his administration had done that year!  Right?  

[eric82oslo]

Who would be the strongest VP pick for Hillary Clinton?

I ran a series of polls on this a year or two ago, and the final result was Sherrod Brown, and Mark Warner had a lot of support too. I'm wondering how different it will be now.

Well, I think it would be one of these:

1) Julian Castro
2) Bernie Sanders
3) Elizabeth Warren
4) Gavin Newsom
5) Claire McCaskill

Number 6 would either be Mark Warner or Kirsten Gillibrand, though Kirsten would be like Jeb chosing Marco as his running mate, it would be very complicated, although totally and entirely legal. I used to think Warner would be one of the strongest, yet I've soured a little bit on him (don't have any particular reason, besides his age at least, I guess it might be as simple as his very disappointing reelection result against a total nobody, and now I'm being really nice against that prick of his opponent lol). Likewise, and now much, much more positive on both Newsom (just extremely intelligent, my God!) and McCaskill (one of the most personable, relatable politicians you have around).

[eric82oslo]

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine:

-Fluent in Spanish. Can bring more Latinos to the Democratic Party.

If you with fluent you mean that he can hardly pronounce one single word in Spanish, then sure. It's clear from this that you don't speak one word of Spanish. On the upside though, Kaine's Spanish is actually ever so slightly better (at least not worse) than that of Susana Martinez, yet that is just because Susana's Spanish is so horrible it's beyond words (and I was absolutely shocked and appalled the first time I listened to her speak it in a New Mexico governor debate).

[eric82oslo]

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine:

-Fluent in Spanish. Can bring more Latinos to the Democratic Party.
-Centrist. Can appeal to independent voters, which you need to win elections.

Cool, had no idea he was bilingual! Sick of hearing about Julian Castro, he doesn't even speak Spanish lol.

He doesn't, yet he is fully willing (and lusting) to learn it and at least he has the latino cred and could totally persuade latino voters, unlike Tim Kaine who noone outside of Atlas would ever care about. Personally I just get absolutely disgusted by listening to Kaine's broken Spanish, I'm sure that even the ultra-stupid W could speak Spanish in a ten times better fashion than Kaine! It's crazy to think that any sane latino would actually be swooned or swayed by Kaine's "Spanish from Pluto or Jupiter". Spanish is one of the easiest languages in the world to pronounce (the only languages more easy I can think of would be Japanese and Swahili), yet Kaine has absolutely no clue whatsoever how to pronounce it. That should tell you everything you'd need to know.

[eric82oslo]

Kaine is some useless "Democrat" who lost 64 House seats on his watch as DNC chair. Next!

I didn't even know this, but useless he sure is. And he's one of the least charismatic politicians I've ever seen as well. The only thing he has for him, like seriously the only thing, is that he's from Virginia. Noone likes him (outside of Atlas that is) and noone cares about him. I have no clue why all of you guys have such an immense fetish for him.

[Suburbia]

Kaine is some useless "Democrat" who lost 64 House seats on his watch as DNC chair. Next!

I didn't even know this, but useless he sure is. And he's one of the least charismatic politicians I've ever seen as well. The only thing he has for him, like seriously the only thing, is that he's from Virginia. Noone likes him (outside of Atlas that is) and noone cares about him. I have no clue why all of you guys have such an immense fetish for him.

Kaine was a good governor, and he did good things in Virginia. What has Julian Castro done?

[Figueira]

Who would be the strongest VP pick for Hillary Clinton?

I ran a series of polls on this a year or two ago, and the final result was Sherrod Brown, and Mark Warner had a lot of support too. I'm wondering how different it will be now.

Well, I think it would be one of these:

1) Julian Castro
2) Bernie Sanders
3) Elizabeth Warren
4) Gavin Newsom
5) Claire McCaskill

Number 6 would either be Mark Warner or Kirsten Gillibrand, though Kirsten would be like Jeb chosing Marco as his running mate, it would be very complicated, although totally and entirely legal. I used to think Warner would be one of the strongest, yet I've soured a little bit on him (don't have any particular reason, besides his age at least, I guess it might be as simple as his very disappointing reelection result against a total nobody, and now I'm being really nice against that prick of his opponent lol). Likewise, and now much, much more positive on both Newsom (just extremely intelligent, my God!) and McCaskill (one of the most personable, relatable politicians you have around).

It won't be Sanders, Warren, or Newsom.

[NeverAgain]

Who would be the strongest VP pick for Hillary Clinton?

I ran a series of polls on this a year or two ago, and the final result was Sherrod Brown, and Mark Warner had a lot of support too. I'm wondering how different it will be now.

Well, I think it would be one of these:

1) Julian Castro
2) Bernie Sanders
3) Elizabeth Warren
4) Gavin Newsom
5) Claire McCaskill

Number 6 would either be Mark Warner or Kirsten Gillibrand, though Kirsten would be like Jeb chosing Marco as his running mate, it would be very complicated, although totally and entirely legal. I used to think Warner would be one of the strongest, yet I've soured a little bit on him (don't have any particular reason, besides his age at least, I guess it might be as simple as his very disappointing reelection result against a total nobody, and now I'm being really nice against that prick of his opponent lol). Likewise, and now much, much more positive on both Newsom (just extremely intelligent, my God!) and McCaskill (one of the most personable, relatable politicians you have around).

It won't be Sanders, Warren, or Newsom.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Let's be honest: Vice presidential candidates rarely change the outcomes of elections by an appreciable amount, unless they say or do something that completely tanks the ticket.

With that being said, she needs to pick someone safe, such as Tim Kaine. Joe Biden also wouldn't be a bad choice. Picking him would tie Clinton to the Obama legacy, which will help her turn out Obama's core groups.

[Kingpoleon]

Who would be the strongest VP pick for Hillary Clinton?

I ran a series of polls on this a year or two ago, and the final result was Sherrod Brown, and Mark Warner had a lot of support too. I'm wondering how different it will be now.

Well, I think it would be one of these:

1) Julian Castro
2) Bernie Sanders
3) Elizabeth Warren
4) Gavin Newsom
5) Claire McCaskill

Number 6 would either be Mark Warner or Kirsten Gillibrand, though Kirsten would be like Jeb chosing Marco as his running mate, it would be very complicated, although totally and entirely legal. I used to think Warner would be one of the strongest, yet I've soured a little bit on him (don't have any particular reason, besides his age at least, I guess it might be as simple as his very disappointing reelection result against a total nobody, and now I'm being really nice against that prick of his opponent lol). Likewise, and now much, much more positive on both Newsom (just extremely intelligent, my God!) and McCaskill (one of the most personable, relatable politicians you have around).

Agreed. Newsom makes his genius boss look like a fool, and McCaskill is a female, younger, and gaffeless version of Joe Biden. Hmm... Newsom/McCaskill 2020?

Seriously though, I like all your suggestions. I think O'Malley, Deval Patrick, and maybe De Blasio would do the same as Sanders or Warren as rallying the base while raising turnout of:

- "Efficient Independenrs"(O'Malley)(Young & College students)
- "Schweitzer Democrats"(Patrick)(African-Americans)
- "Progressive Politicos"(De Blasio)(Italian-Americans, City People)

[Lincoln Republican]

I agree, get off the Castro kick.  Not happnin'.

It will NOT be a woman.

It will be a middle aged, not too exciting, yet experienced white man, who is viewed by the public as competent and able to step into the Presidency if necessary.

[Panhandle Progressive]

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine:

-Fluent in Spanish. Can bring more Latinos to the Democratic Party.
-Centrist/Center-left. Can appeal to independent voters, which you need to win elections.
-Safe choice. Kaine will not embarrass the Clinton campaign in Brooklyn.
-Balance. As a white male, Kaine can bring balance to the ticket.
-Brings Virginia to the ticket.
-Potentially brings Missouri into play. (Went to high school in Kansas City, Mo., if the Clinton campaign was wise, they would have him there throughout October.

I agree with everything but your last point.