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Who Will Be The Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate? Top Ten Picks

Published on: April 13, 2016 at 3:59 PM
By Susan Macdonald

The vice president is only a heartbeat away from the White House. Who is likely to become the Democratic candidate for vice president?

Hillary Rodham Clinton will celebrate her 69th birthday a few weeks before the election in November. Bernie Sanders is 74 years old now, and will be 75 by the time of the election. Therefore, if a Democrat is elected president, she or he will probably only serve one term in the Oval Office. This means whoever is chosen as vice president will have a serious headstart for his or her own chances in a future presidential run.

If Clinton becomes her party’s nominee, who is she likely to choose as her running mate? The International Business Times listed three possible candidates for vice president for Clinton, and the Inquisitr discussed eight potential running mates for her.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has been suggested as a possible vice president for both Clinton and Sanders. While she’s popular with progressive Democrats and moderate Republicans, Warren is more useful in the Senate than she would be in the mostly ceremonial role of vice president. Also, many Americans are not yet ready for a female president, and would have trouble supporting a Democratic ticket with two females.

Julián Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio, TX, and currently secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is a strong contender for the role of Clinton’s vice president. He might attract Hispanic voters, but it’s been years since a Democrat won Texas.

Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland, was a rival of Sanders’ and Clinton’s for the White House. Serving as vice president to either would give him a much better chance to run for president in 2020.

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio has a great deal of legislative experience, having served in the U. S. Senate, the U. S. House of Representatives, and the Ohio state legislature.

Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia was considered as a possible running mate for Barack Obama in 2008. His wide range of experience would serve him well as vice president. He’s been a lawyer, an educator, a mayor, a governor, and now a senator. He is the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

The Fiscal Times suggested 25 possible candidates for men and women who might be suitable to be vice president to President Bernie Sanders.

Major Tulsi Gabbard of the Hawaii Army National Guard is one of the most frequently mentioned possible running mates for Bernie Sanders. She is currently a member of the U. S. House of Representatives. Until February 2016, she was the vice-chairman of the Democratic National Committee, but resigned so she could be free to endorse Sen. Sanders for president. She is a combat veteran, having served in Iraq, which would balance Sanders’ personal lack of military experience.

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/713870150357749760

Governor Kate Brown of Oregon is the first openly bisexual governor of any state. She has a good reputation when it comes to balancing a budget and increasing voter registration.

Governor Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island has financial experience as a Harvard-trained economist, a businesswoman, and as the former state general treasurer. She has three doctorates: a D. Phil. in sociology from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes scholar, a J. D. in law from Yale, and an honorary D.B.A. (doctor of business administration) from Bryant University.

Keith Ellison is a member of the U. S. House of Representatives. He is African-American and the first Muslim to be elected to Congress. He was sworn in with his hand upon a Koran that had belonged to Thomas Jefferson. Before being elected to the Minnesota state legislature, he was a civil rights attorney and part-time radio DJ. He was the second congressman to endorse Sanders for president, after Raúl Grijalva of Arizona.

The idea of George Takei as Bernie Sanders’ vice president started as an internet joke, but the suggestion is being touted more seriously now. Would Star Trek star George Takei make a good vice president? The position of vice president is largely ceremonial; as an actor, he could manage that well. As the internet’s beloved “Uncle George,” he’s the king of Facebook and Twitter, and very popular with the younger generation, where Sanders gets much of his support. He could handle social media communications for the White House. Takei has been active in Democratic politics since the 1970s. He’s an advocate of LGBT rights. Having been confined to concentration camps in his youth, he’s worked hard to advocate for the civil rights of all ethnic groups, so such a thing never happens again. And as a gay Asian American, a Vice President Takei would keep President Sanders safe. Just as King Charles II said no one would ever kill him to make his brother James king, so no assassin offended by Sanders’ democratic socialism would kill him to put the equally liberal George Takei in the White House.

With twenty primaries and caucuses to go before the Democratic convention in Philadelphia this July, it’s not yet sure who the Democratic candidate will be. However, it’s not too soon to be seriously considering possible candidates for vice president.

[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

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