As the Democratic presidential nominee finally becomes solid, the talk of town becomes who she will pick as her running mate. Six months ago, I published a list of potential candidates who I thought would make good candidates. That list included eight names - I don't think I agree with most of them anymore. In my opinion, there are only three people who Hillary Clinton should pick as her Vice President. There are also some people that I think do not belong on this list, namely, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, and Bernie Sanders. I think Brown, Booker, Warren, and Sanders need to stay right where they are. If the Democratic Party loses the Senate again, we can't afford to lose any of the hyper-progressive voices we have there. Similarly, if we win that body, we'll need their strong voices in the Senate to lead the party in the upper house. But, without further ado, here are my four names:
Senator Joe Manchin III
Home: Lifelong resident of West Virginia
Current Office: Senator from West Virginia (2010-Present)
Past Offices: Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates (1982-1984), Member of the West Virginia Senate (1986-1996), West Virginia Secretary of State (2001-2005), Governor of West Virginia (2005-2010)
Why I like him: In my humble opinion, Joe Manchin would likely be a perfect match for Hillary Clinton. I have said this time and time again and will continue to say it until the day that Hillary Clinton announces someone else. I’ve held this opinion for going on four years now, and at this point it seems like a pipe-dream, but I still hold out hope. He has almost all the qualities necessary to make a good Presidential ticket. He would pull the ticket far right (he is pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-coal) and therefore would help win moderate votes. He would be instrumental in turning West Virginia blue again in a Presidential election. Likewise, he could help find votes in the South, since he is Southern born. Both of these things add up to smart electoral math. Even on a personal candidate level, Manchin would be a good pairing to Hillary. In today’s political environment, people seem to look for ‘normal’ people to lead them, and Senator Manchin is that. He is, in simple terms, a straight shooter who is adored by both the right and the left. He would be the first West Virginian in the White House (since the creation of the state) and his story would make good campaign material.
Potential Hindrances: Unfortunately, my opinion isn’t widely shared beyond West Virginia, likely due to the stereotypes that surround the Mountain State in the rest of the country. Many normal Americans might not feel comfortable with a homegrown West Virginian being one heartbeat away from the Presidency. More than that though, progressive liberals might not like him being on the ticket. Manchin has, in the past, crossed the aisle to vote for things like the defunding of Planned Parenthood. This might ostracize extreme liberals and make them not want to vote at all. But, to Manchin's benefit, I sincerely hope that these ultra Liberals will realize that, between a slightly conservative Liberal and Donald Trump, they will pick the Liberal.
Senator Tim Kaine
Home: Born in Minnesota, but has lived in Virginia for most of his life
Current Office: Senator from Virginia (2013-Present)
Past Offices: Mayor of Richmond (1998-2001), Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (2002-2006), Governor of Virginia (2006-2010), Chairman of the DNC (2009-2011)
Why I like him: Kaine is, to me, the perfect running mate. He's relatively young, could help to win Virginia, a vital swing state, pulls the ticket to the right, and already has significant national support because he was involved in the 2008 election. Not only does he pull the ticket to the right, he can pull the ticket away from Obama, who has a healthy approval rating for a contemporary President but still faces disapproval of half the country. Kaine coauthored a bill with Senator McCain to try and take war powers from the President and instead give them to Congress. Kaine also has a record of being tough on crime (overseeing 11 executions while Governor of Virginia despite being opposed to the death sentence) and already has establishment support for the pick. Politico quoted one Clinton supporter as saying: “Tim Kaine speaks Spanish much better than Julián Castro does” indicating the Senator could attract minority votes as well. In all honesty, Tim Kaine would be at the top of this list if Joe Manchin wasn’t one of my personal heroes.
Potential Hindrances: There is only one serious flaw that I see in Senator Kaine: he is establishment. Clinton would be better off with a fresh new face, not one that has been the President of the DNC. Others say that he is boring or that he couldn’t actually win Virginia for the Democrats, but I disagree with the first wholeheartedly and see no actual evidence for the second. In fact, PPP performed multiple polls of Virginia voters and the Senator’s approval ratings were second in the state, only beaten by fellow Democratic Senator Mark Warner. Kaine seems to have no credible problems which could get in the way of him getting picked. Unfortunately, he has said that he’s not interested in the position. But, I’m not sure many people are interested in being Vice President, until they are Vice President.
Martin O’Malley
Home: Born in DC but he’s lived in Maryland his whole life.
Current Office: Candidate for President
Past Offices: Mayor of Baltimore (1999-2007), Governor of Maryland (2007-2015)
Why I like him: When I wrote my last list, O'Malley made the very last spot on my list. But, since then, things have changed and times are different. Since he dropped out of the race, O'Malley has been pretty non-vocal about the race, not endorsing either candidate until it was quite clear that Clinton was going to win the Primary. More than that, he's young, liberal, well-liked, and agrees with Clinton in a pretty large majority of instances. He never really out-rightly insulted Hillary in the Primary, so it isn't like he couldn't come out and support her now and, in fact, already has. While I obviously don't think that he is the best choice, he is still a great choice.
Potential Hindrances: O’Malley wouldn’t push the ticket to the right and Maryland wouldn’t give any electoral leeway to the Democrats. In general, there are just better options than O’Malley who provide the same things and more than he does.
