The smart guys in Washington think it would be a great idea for Hillary Clinton to pick Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as her running mate. The conventional wisdom suggests that the liberal fire-brand would shore up Hillary’s left flank thus giving Bernie Sanders supporters someone to rally around.
There’s also a school of thought that the historic nature of not one but two women on the ticket could add some enthusiasm to the lackluster support for Clinton. Injecting Warren’s energy and passion to the cause could turn around recent poll numbers that show Democrats to be much less interested in this season’s presidential campaign then their Republican counterparts.
By the way, a fascinating sidebar on this “Elizabeth Warren brings energy to the ticket” idea. Did you know that Warren is only two years younger than Hillary Clinton? Two years. Doesn’t she seem a lot younger than Hillary? I mean, like ten years younger? It’s telling that her presence would be perceived as a “youthful injection” to the moribund Clinton campaign.
All that said, there’s at least one prominent voice for the Democrats saying that Warren would be an awful choice for Hillary’s Veep. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) spoke out strongly against the idea yesterday on MSNBC saying, “not only no, hell no,” to the idea:
“If we have a Republican governor in any of those states, the answer is not only no, but hell no. I would do whatever I can, and I think most of my Democratic colleagues here would say the same thing.”
Reid went on to say he would “yell and scream to stop” a move to nominate Warren or Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, another darling of the far-left.
At issue is Reid’s hope that the Democrats could regain a majority in the Senate this November. If either Warren or Brown were to win on the Clinton ticket, they’d have to vacate their senate seat to take on the “bucket of warm piss” duties of the Vice President.
That would mean that the Governors of those two states, Massachusetts and Ohio, respectively, would have the responsibility to nominate their successor. Those states are currently governed by Republicans, thus thwarting Reid’s hope to take back the senate majority.
It’s an interesting dynamic and Reid’s position is probably shared by other Democrats in senate leadership. The big question is, does Hillary care what Reid or any other Democrat thinks? The Clinton’s have shown themselves over the years to be some of the most selfish political couple in decades. They’ve been known to put their own political ambitions before any other consideration.
Many observers point to Bill Clinton’s agreements on welfare reform, a balanced budget and the crime bill back in the mid-90s as a cynical insurance policy for re-election in 1996. It did nothing to help his fellow Democrats running against the Republicans he was making deals with but he didn’t care. His presidency was paramount.
There’s absolutely no indication that Hillary would be any different. Expect her to ignore any other considerations when choosing her running mate. They’ll be picked for one reason and one reason only: To win her the White House.
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