Hillary's Veep

Julian Castro

We're about two years away from the Democratic National Convention. We don't know even know where it will be held yet, but that hasn't stopped political prognosticators from speculating. But in this instance, it's not on who the nominee for president will be, but who will be second on the ticket.

If Hillary Clinton runs, as most expect her to, that will take all the air out of the Democratic race for president. She may get some token opposition from the left to keep her honest--I believe Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has already indicated he will run. And who knows what Joe Biden will do. His ego may be too big to quietly step aside, but I can't see him putting much dent in the Clinton machinery.

So, the only suspense may be who she picks as her running mate. I've googled a few articles to see that I'm not the only one wondering. Possible scenarios can be divided into three categories:

White men, regardless of geography: Here the candidates could be those who would otherwise run if Clinton doesn't. The top of the list seems to be Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, who I'm sure is a very capable man but doesn't exactly inspire excitement. Both Virgina senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, are also mentioned, as Kaine was one of the finalists for Obama's running mate in '08. I like Kaine's experience: he's been a mayor, a governor, and a senator.

In this camp we also have former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer, who might give the ticket a Western flavor. Then there's Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, but he will certainly be biding his time for a run on his own, and wouldn't want to play second fiddle.

The next category is a Latino. Unfortunately, the Democratic party has a weak bench in this area. While the Republicans have Marco Rubio and Susana Martinez, the only Latino Democratic senator is Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who is not a prospect. Therefore it was of some interest when San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro was tapped to be Secretary of HUD. Was this to give him some Federal experience in preparation for 2016? He was the keynote speaker at the 2012 convention and a bright star on the horizon in everyone's view, but it's hard to think of HUD being a launching point to the White House. The last time a cabinet member was picked to be Vice President I think was Henry Wallace back in 1940.

Finally Clinton could down down and select a woman. There have been all sorts of articles about this, and how much that would energize the voting populace. I think there is a good chance of that, because there are far more exciting women candidates than Latino. At the top is Elizabeth Warren, who seem to have grabbed the mantle as spokeswoman for many issues, particularly the anti-Wall Street ones. But she's about as old as Hillary, and with Clinton's age, she might want to go younger. Other possibilities would be senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, or Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.

This process is always fascinating because it is the one office where a person is selected rather than elected, and a heretofore completely unknown is thrust into the national spotlight.