Hillary's VP possibilities.

[YouDig]

The party is divided, obviously. But still Hillary needs to beat Trump. I don't know if a conventional VP choice is the way to go. Two other ideas.

Bernie. This would be a "unify the party" move. The upside is it would get a lot of the Bernie people who are currently upset on board. In fact, this might be the only way to placate them, and maybe that's what Bernie's angling at with all the chaos that he is causing. The downside is that she would be associated with his socialist politics, huge tax increases and all that, even if she didn't adopt them as her own, and this could alienate moderate voters which are essential in the GE.

Mike Bloomberg. Another independent, like Bernie, but it would be a move in the opposite direction. This upside is she could appeal to centrist voters, since Bloomberg is respected and known to be a moderate, and also, unlike Trump, Bloomberg really is a good businessman. The downside is that it would anger the left, and increase the "Bernie or Bust".


If she picks Bernie, she can try and capture some of the enthusiasm and the big crowds. Bloomberg isn't going to bring big crowds. But Bernie would probably demand at least some of his big tax increases be part of her agenda, and that could really hurt her in the GE.

If she picks Bloomberg, she's going with the "serious versus crazy" argument against Trump. Having Bernie on board would make that argument more difficult. This would be a move to unify the country to fight the threat of Trump, she'd certainly pick up a number of GOP endorsements, but not to unify the party. The risk here is that Bernie gets so angry that he launches or endorses a third-party candidacy, which would mean an almost certain win for Trump.


It's probably going to be neither of them, maybe Julian Castro, who in a normal year would be a great choice. Julian Castro would help draw big numbers from Latino voters, but he is basically a conventional Democrat, and Hillary is already a conventional Democrat. Either Bernie or Bloomberg would be a bold move.

[enid602]

1. Hill

I think Pres Clinton should offer (and Sen Sanders should accept) a cabinet level post as ACA Czar. While we've been fiddling, Rome is burning. New challenges to ACA have arisen from the courts and the insurance companies. We need someone who is driven, feisty, unwielding, crusty and devoted to Universal Health Care. Ironically, Sanders can do more for health care as a cabinet level executive than he could ever thought of doing as Pres. Let him make our ACA more like Denmark's! Hill's attention will be diverted in a thousand different ways after inauguration; she needs a pit bull who can live, breath and concentrate on health care and health care only. What better way to preserve Obama's legacy, and get us to where we need to be with regard to Universal Health Care.

ps: We might even unite the party.

[YouDig]

4. I agree, but cabinet level positions aren't out there on the campaign trail like the VP.

If she actually makes Bernie VP, he'd be part of the ticket. Cabinet positions are generally not chosen until after the election, so he wouldn't even officially be part of the potential administration during the campaign, and I'm not sure that from an election perspective, that would help so much with bringing the party together.

[auntpurl]

15. Also, it would be illegal for Hillary to offer it to him at this point.

Quid pro quo laws.

[enid602]

17. GE

I think she should chose him for the cabinet level position before the GE. It would send a clear message to all the stakeholders in the health care arena, and would differentiate her stance from Trump's.

[Crepuscular]

2. Bloomberg

is from New York, picking a veep from the same state ain't gonna happen. putting aside the fact that he's a Republican.

[leftynyc]

3. She and Bloomberg

are residents of the same state. I think there is a rule against that but he wouldn't have been a bad choice. I know plenty of people that were hoping he'd jump in the race (but I'm from NY where he was an incredibly popular mayor).

[YouDig]

5. I didn't know there was a rule. Oh well. Yeah, I've spoken to plenty of people who wished he would

get in, especially when it was looking like Sanders vs Trump was a possibility.

[leftynyc]

6. Unfortunately

I now know 5 people who would vote for donnie over Bernie that will vote for Hillary. They think he will trash the economy (even though it's donnie that would do that - he's too unpredictable and if it's one thing wall street hates, it's uncertainty.

[YouDig]

9. I haven't heard that, but I've heard plenty of "I wish Trump and Bernie would shut up and go away."

If there were another high-profile moderate independent like Bloomberg somewhere else in the country, it could make a very strong ticket for people who want to get things done and not have a crazy person in charge of the country. Bloomberg would have been good because he's not an ideologue, he did a good job in NYC because he simply looked at what had to happen and did it. He's about competence.

[leftynyc]

11. I would have been happy

with him jumping in. I would have voted for him in a heartbeat.

[YouDig]

13. The only problem is, it would have been difficult for him not to be a spoiler.

If he was the Dem nominee, then he would win easily, but as a third party, I don't think there are enough reasonable Republicans for him to get a plurality. I'd think he and Bernie would have split the Dems, and Trump would end up with like 40%, meaning he'd take most electoral votes since the electoral votes go winner-take-all in each state.

The election system we have for president doesn't really work for more than two real candidates. Which is too bad.

[leftynyc]

16. Agree

with the criticism of the two party system but I think he could have pulled just as many republican votes from those loathe to support donnie (and there are plenty of republicans that detest donnie - embarrassed by him).

[Yupster]

18. The Constitution says

that each elector votes for a pres and VP, one of which cannot be from the elector's home state.

So, let's say Hillary chose Bloomberg for VP. They win. The electors of every state except New York are fine. They can vote for both of them.

The electors of New York have a problem. They can only vote for one of the two.

If the election is a wipeout, not problem. They vote for Hillary and Bernie for VP, and Hillary and Bloomberg win without any trouble.

If the election is kind of closer, then half the electors vote for Bernie - Bloomberg and the other half vote for Hillary - Bernie and no problem, Hillary - Bloomberg win.

If the election is razor thin, then you have a problem. The NY electors vote for Hillary so she wins the presidency. The electors vote for Bernie and no one has a majority of electoral votes for VP so the House of Representatives chooses the VP voting with one state having each vote, so the final winners are Hillary for president and Marco Rubio? for VP.

Or Bloomberg can move to Wyoming like Dick Cheney did.

Actually in the Cheney example, even if he stayed in Texas, he still would have won because the House would have chosen him. It would have been messy though. Better to just have him move.

[hollowdweller]

24. Perez would make it a lot easier for me to vote for Hillary.

[Skwmom]

7. Bloomberg to unify the country? I don't think they have a clue what is going on with this country -

outside of their elitist bubble.

You can't make this stuff up.

[YouDig]

10. The country, not the party. Read it again.

[Skwmom]

12. Thanks. I still think that is a joke.

[hollowdweller]

23. Really. People hate Bloomberg. Think he wants to institute a nanny state.

[HooptieWagon]

8. She should pick a VP with similar positions....

Dick Cheney. He's also good protection against her impeachment...the only politician less favorable than her.

[HughLefty1]

20. Got a chuckle out of that..

Jeb Bush could be another suggestion as a VP for her.

[TeddyR]

14. Needs to be someone

Legitimately qualified for the presidency in the event she's indicted after the election and has to resign.

[enid602]

19. bern

Would Bernie lead the impeachment procedures while serving as VP? That would be novel.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. Take the Hillary part out you might have a good ticket.

[thesquanderer]

22. Tough to pick Bloomberg after criticizing whether Sanders was a true Dem,

since Bloomberg definitely isn't. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time she backtracked on something.