My VP Short List

[EffieBlack]

Last edited Sun Jul 10, 2016, 12:37 AM - Edit history (1)

1. Xavier Becerra, U.S. Congressman (CA)
2. Anthony Foxx, Secretary of Transportation
3. Tammy Baldwin U.S. Senator (WI)
4. Deval Patrick, former Massachusetts Governor
5. Elijah Cummings, U.S. Congressman (MD)
6. Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator (OH)

Thoughts?

[chillfactor]

1. Julian Castro...n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Any of them would be OK with me.

I just hope she doesn't choose Vilsack or Kaine.

[EffieBlack]

3. I agree

[brush]

4. Good list. I'd add Warren and Castro.

[oasis]

5. Becerra has been an above average advocate for Hillary. He does

his homework, handles the press adeptly, and is well versed on the issues of the day.

[BlueMTexpat]

6. MY thoughts ...

- NO sitting Dem Senator or Congressperson - we need them ALL where they are.
- NO sitting Dem Governor - we need them ALL where they are.
In both cases, we need to increase Dem numbers, not reduce them.

Apart from that, Hillary can choose anyone she wishes, IMO. Even if she does choose someone who IS a sitting Senator, Congressperson, or Governor, she will have thought her decision through and have her specific reasons for doing so and I will support that decision.

But one who meets my qualifications is Martin O'Malley (former Prez candidate, former two-term Governor of MD, former Chair of the Dem Governors Association, former mayor of Baltimore, a progressive politician in every way, a representative of the younger generation, a lifelong Dem, a team player, someone who actually understands the real danger posed by climate change, and someone who could, with more exposure, experience and training, fill the job of President very well).

There are several other candidates who would also be good - some may even be unknown generally at this point.

But IMO, O'Malley consistently ticks more boxes than all others.

[robbedvoter]

7. Al Franken!

Has a D governor in his state and everything!

[Vattel]

8. Strike Brown. We can't afford to lose a senate seat.

[book_worm]

14. Also strike Baldwin for the same reason.

[TeamPooka]

9. I didn't know you were running for President. nt

[brooklynite]

10. I've had a private lunch with Foxx. Nice guy but uninspiring...

...and as a Transportation Planner, I can say he's been uninspiring as DOT Secretary.

[EllenJ]

19. Have you been following his work as Transportation Secretary?

He's a rock star

A crusade to defeat the legacy of highways rammed through poor neighborhoods
Washington Post, March 28, 2016

As a child, Anthony Foxx knew he couldn’t ride his bike far from home without being blocked by a freeway. By the time he became U.S. transportation secretary he understood why.

“We now know — overwhelmingly — that our urban freeways were almost always routed through low-income and minority neighborhoods, creating disconnections from opportunity that exist to this day,” Foxx said.

When the expressways that walled off his Charlotte neighborhood were designed, black residents of North Carolina still were denied voting rights. That highways routinely were routed through poor neighborhoods — Robert Moses, a polarizing urban planner of the era, called them “blighted” — is well known to those who suffered the consequences.

That a member of President Obama’s Cabinet intends to lob that fact into a larger public discussion about race and opportunity, and encourage steps to rectify it, appears unprecedented ...

Giving neighborhoods that have been poorly served in the past by transportation dollars has been a priority for the Obama administration. Foxx has used a variety of grant programs to bolster projects that, in the language spelled out in a grant application form, “sought to improve access to reliable, safe, and affordable transportation for disconnected communities.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/defeating-the-legacy-of-highways-rammed-through-poor-neighborhoods/2016/03/28/ffcfb5ae-f2a1-11e5-a61f-e9c95c06edca_story.html

[EffieBlack]

20. Really?

Not my impression of him at all.

[AntiBank]

11. unfortunately the country is still too homophobic for a VP Tammy Baldwin

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Warren, Merkley, Wyden, Franken, Newsom, Harris, Booker

[StevieM]

13. I also have Becerra at number one. I think he would make a great running-mate for her.

But from what I have read he is no longer considered a likely pick. I have heard that the five finalists are Sherrod Brown, Tim Kaine, Tom Perez, Tom Vilsack and Elizabeth Warren.

I am starting to think that she will pick Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. He was also a two term governor of Iowa.

[KMOD]

15. Keep in mind that the only people

who know who is on her short list, are Hillary herself, Bill, Chelsea and the lawyer who is helping to vet.

Any news reports you read are just speculation. She would not let this information leak.

[StevieM]

17. Isn't it possible that she would deliberately leak certain information out?

Sometimes, in the run-up to the selection, candidates have been known to release the names of the finalists. It gets a certain amount of publicity for the campaign and generates buzz around the ticket.

[KMOD]

18. Oh sure. Many candidates do.

and sometimes the leaks come from the candidates being vetted.

But, knowing how Hillary typically operates, she was my Senator, it doesn't seem to fit her style.

[KMOD]

16. Xavier Becerra is my number one preference as well.

[ruggerson]

21. much as i love Tammy Baldwin

I don't think the country is quite ready for that. maybe in another cycle or two. Of your others, Id go with Deval in a heartbeat.