Who Will Be Hillary Clinton’s Running Mate? – OpEd

By Bikram Vohra

Who will Hillary Clinton settle on could be the deciding factor in halting the Trump juggernaut from gatecrashing the White House. It would have been ideal for the Democrats if Bernie Sanders, her runner-up in the nomination race could be her running mate but it doesn’t happen that way and that is unfortunate because both of them together could give the Republicans a bit of scare and squeak the Trump chariot’s wheels.

According to a report on CNN she wants her ducks in a row in selecting a running mate ahead of the party’s convention in Philadelphia on July 25.

“I’m looking at the most qualified people, and that includes women, of course, because I want to be sure that whoever I pick could be president immediately if something were to happen — that’s the most important qualification,” Clinton reportedly said.

Though there are candidates who might give her vote banks, there isn’t anyone who stands out as a perfect foil and yet, a support. US presidents also don’t like strong vice-presidents even though the latter is a heartbeat away from the Oval office. Rather he be sworn in mid-term as a weak facsimile of the fallen warrior.

Having left a window open by saying she is turning to the Bernie brigade to back her could there be a message in the bottle? After all, in her own words she said, we have the same goals and we just came at them from different directions. Will the Senator from Vermont be open to such a suggestion or has Hillary no intent of pulling up the man she just beat.

“Contrast that with Donald Trump, who set up a fake university, Trump University, that committed fraud on people,” Clinton said.

Well, that sort of attack is all very fine but when it is Trump such skullduggery comes off as romantic buccaneering, a political Johnny Depp beating the system and winning. Not many people see him as venal or corrupt, more colorful and candid.

So then, who? Clinton has choices. Some good, some very good, rising stars and men and women of stature but their nationwide popularity is a bit suspect. She could look at Sherrod Brown the Ohio senator who is in good standing with the progressives. Would she go for an African American like Massachusetts’ former Gov. Deval Patrick to underscore continuity and disarm core black constituencies? No pun intend, but that plan might have paled unless she goes a step beyond and opts for a Latino like Julian Castro, thereby giving the Obama administration space in her Cabinet and sending the Trumpeteers back to their maths.

Another strong contender is Tom Perez who would be both Latino and capable of influencing the blue-collar workforce. At this point it isn’t that germane but having a former POTUS as your husband and one who has maintained a certain intellectual stature and pretty much eliminated memories of another day, isn’t going to hurt Hillary.

Whom she chooses could have a global impact because if she chooses wrong it will fuel the Trump bandwagon and having him as POTUS changes the paradigm of foreign policy across the world. Can Hillary stop him?