If Hillary Clinton decides not to run, or doesn’t win the nomination, what are some of the other possible Democratic tickets that could emerge from the current crop of candidates? From a Democrat’s perspective, the combination of Jim Webb and Elizabeth Warren would add new faces to the national scene and bring a balanced ticket before the American people.
Report from The Week:
Jim Webb is a genuinely intriguing candidate — a war hero and former secretary of the Navy who actually views our country’s militaristic foreign policy with skepticism, a champion of the American working class against globalization and “boardroom liberalism,” and a passionate advocate for criminal justice reform. On top of that, he voluntarily retired from the Senate after one term, showing that he’s far less enamored of political power than most people who run for the presidency. If he can get people to pay attention to his message, Webb just might succeed in wooing back a large chunk of the white (Scots-Irish) middle class to the Democratic Party.
But he’s unlikely to do so on his own. Webb’s idiosyncratic policy positions combined with his bristly unwillingness to jump through the right “likability” hoops give him limited appeal at the head of a ticket.
But as Elizabeth Warren’s running mate? In that role he’d be fantastic.
I almost can’t believe I’m arguing in favor of Warren jumping into the race. She’s at least a few clicks to my left. Her populist rhetoric makes me uncomfortable. And she’s said very little to indicate that she diverges from the bipartisan Washington consensus in favor of endless warfare.
So why do I find myself hoping that she’ll run? Because she would actually give Americans a choice.
…Hillary Clinton has dropped 15 points in the polls since the email story broke. If her numbers continue to soften, she’s going to start looking seriously vulnerable. With Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, there’s too much at stake for Democrats to put all their chips on a candidate with clay feet. They need to start looking for other options.
And Warren-Webb 2016 is the way to go.
It’s an interesting mix of progressive activism on the part of Warren, and a folksy Reagan-Democrat appeal on the part of Webb. Many articles have discussed who Hillary Clinton would pick as a running mater. Very few have floated the possibilities if her name doesn’t end up as part of the Democratic ticket.
