Starting a way too early thread to push some names for people I think would be decent VP choices for any of the 6 remaining viable presidential candidates. Cory Booker - eloquent to the max, progressive champ, a little too bombastic sometimes though. Mark Warner - traditional long time politician from a swing state (Virginia). Almost identical to Hillary choosing Tim Kaine. Safe pick. Kamala Harris - gritty, good debater being a former prosecutor, obvious name recognition at this point Amy Klobuchar - god forbid she doesn’t get the nom, I still want her in the White House. edit note: initially had Deval Patrick in there, but after listening to more of his interviews he just doesn’t have the stage presence for a national campaign.
I want someone that can crush Pence in a debate. (Not try and out-laugh him or out likable him like Kaine attempted.) Hammer him and Trump on character. Shame the evangelicals. Hammer the MF on domestic policy. (No one is doing enough now!!!) Educate those that believe everything they're told from the likes of FOX. Make those folks feel like crap when they look in the mirror. Humiliate "Mr. At -the-Ready" when it comes to foreign policy. Make him look weak. Tie his little fraudulent ass to the Koch brothers in a neat little bow, and make obvious to the world that THIS IS WHY WE'RE WHERE WE RE AT AS A COUNTRY. In short, make the MF crawl back to Mother. I feel like Warren would walk all over Trump or Pence in a debate, substance-wise, but her optics need work, particularly if she's to sit across the table from Pence. Don't know about Mark Warner. He was supposed to be the next big thing a decade ago. Booker is a powerful speaker without a message. His debate performances were largely forgettable, but if he were to focus on why the Trump administration sucks so bad, and channel that anger and energy, he might satisfy my debate hopes. I don't know about the rest. I guess I'm leaning Booker at this point.
No to Kamala, and I'm someone who likes her, but she has some kind of real stank on her this year. Like the Booker idea actually. No to safety and Warner. That didn't work so well with Kaine.
I agree. Someone who can hammer Pence on being [and I quote] “a Christian first, a conservative second, and a republican third” yet still aligning himself with the likes of Donald Trump. Pence is a master at deflection. He has stayed out of the spotlight and is great at dodging questions about Trump’s behavior. You need someone who will pin him down to some answers by presenting hard evidence.
Klobuchar-Booker is my preferred ticket at this point. Granted I haven’t vetted the plethora of other VP hopefuls that will surely be brought up. Does anyone else come to mind? Many are saying Abrams, I need to do more research on her.
I like how everyone here is Igbo the extremely high probability that Bernie will win and considering who he would pick to run with him.
Stacey Abrams is basically begging for someone to pick her as VP and I certainly could see that. She probably makes sense as VP for any of the remaining candidates, especially Bloomberg and Pete. Tammy Baldwin is a name floating around, Senator from Wisconsin, so yeah, that would help in the national election trying to win that state back.
If Bernie wins, I hope he picks Yang. I don't see Booker going the fire and brimstone route and sticking it to Pence at a debate. That's not been his tone. But I like him as a pick. I would love to see Klobuchar light Pence up though, but I would also love to see her get the nomination. I don't know enough about Abrams, but I know she's been on people's minds. I don't know if she is recognizable enough. She lost her state's election for Governor, and has never really held national office. They need someone that can bring out more voters. I think Booker is a very good pick for any of these candidates right now. Regardless, with these candidates being older (Bernie and Bloomberg), VP is a very important decision this year. I don't think Abrams is it. I don't think Yang will get a look because of reasons I mentioned on Abrams. I think Booker is a great pick.
The increasing likelihood of a brokered convention may blow all of this up. The VP slot may ultimately be a bargaining tool between campaigns rather than any sort of ideal pick. And campaigns may not have the same amount of time to vet their picks, etc.
If I was betting on it, I’d say it will be Bernie and Warren. I don’t see Bernie picking a moderate or even an establishment progressive as his running mate. He wants someone that will help him shake up the system.
Mayor Pete would be a fantastic choice to go against Pence in the VP debates if he doesn’t win the nomination. I have a feeling that Pence would duck him and claim they don’t need debates if Pete was the choice.
Stacey Abrams, Andrew Gillum, Tammy Baldwin Michelle Obama rises to the top of the list if interested Maybe Gretchen Whitmer Maybe Kamala or Booker Bernie/Warren is a nightmare ticket. It simply cannot happen if the goal is to win the general.
Another thing to look at is to think strategically about the Senate when choosing a running mate. If winning and maintaining the Senate is a realistic goal, can’t afford to pull Senators, especially those from possible swing states. Basically rules out Klobuchar, Sanders, and Warren along with quite a few other Senators to possibly include Booker. Harris would be safe, but what exactly does she give you...you are already going to take California and the only one that might benefit from her presence (Buttigieg) might do better going with Abrams instead since Stacey is from an area that Pete needs help in. Honestly, with the Senate as up in the air as it is, I’d probably stay away from any sitting Senators. Another out of the box option, wonder if Biden would be up for another VP run. He’s got name recognition, minority support, and his limitations would be negated somewhat as VP. Would he be willing to play second fiddle again?
This is my favorite speech of all time. I’ve posted it on here before but Booker is truly inspirational. He may not have had the campaigning skills to put it together as a presidential nom, but definitely a compelling choice if people are forced to pay attention to him as a running mate
Wow, if only he could bottle the oratory skills he showed in the last two minutes of that video and open that bottle every time he stepped on a stage.... I've always liked the guy, but I've never seen him speak like that.
She would be good for many reasons and you know trump won’t be able to contain himself and not tweet disabled jokes.
