My pick right now would be Joe Biden with Elizabeth Warren for VP.
Hillary Clinton
Used to be a fan a decade ago, and even a few years ago I would still think she was a good candidate but nowadays I just don’t. Policy wise she seems to be the most hawkish of the contenders, but my main issue is character and integrity, namely that she doesn’t seem to have any. And where I used to think she came off as sharp and intelligent I now just see someone who seems stressed and dishonest. When it comes to electability I think she’s pretty weak as well. To me her main strength is actually experience and professionalism.
Bernie Sanders
Just looking at policies there’s no doubt Bernie is the one that fits me best. From what I have learned he also seems to have a lot of integrity, but perhaps going “too far” and even becoming some sort of “purist”. Not sure if that is the case though, he does seem pragmatical in many cases and willing to do bipartisan work. He also seems like the most honest candidate. Looking at politifact he is the only candidate who has zero “pants on fire” and when I checked his “false” statements they were actually within what I would call acceptable parameters and I would have given them something like a “half true” rating instead. Apparently he is a very energetic campaigner and from what I have seen so far he’s a pretty good speaker, no idea how he does in debates but I would expect him to perform well. The main drawback to him seems to be him being self labeled “democratic socialist” and “nutty professor” visual image. Not sure how important looks are but he doesn’t look very presidential, on the other hand he does look like a genuine human being.
Joe Biden
Policy wise I guess he’s pretty much the same as Obama, which I’m OK with, but out of the candidates this is the one I know least about policy wise since I basically equate him with the sitting president. When it comes to charisma I think he’s actually way ahead of the rest. To me he radiates both empathy and passion. He seems like a very genuine, caring and honest person who it is very easy to like. At the same time he manages to come off as a strong and decisive leader, much more so than the others. Apparently he’s considered a bit of a gaff machine but I haven’t seen anything too bad and whoever he will be running against in the election will most likely outmatch him there anyway, Trump or no Trump. In general I think this man is he one who manages to both come off as most of a Statesman of the three while at the same time being the most likable as a person, which is quite a feat.
Out of the three I think Biden is the obviously most qualified. Can’t really argue that since he’s been VP for 8 years, if he isn’t qualified to be President the system fucked up big time. He’s been in the Senate since before I was born. Hillary also seems very qualified, having held both a cabinet position as well as being senator (and first lady, yes I count that). This is probably where I find Sanders weakest spot from my own perspective. He has some executive experience as a Mayor but that is of a small town with a population of 42k people 30 years ago, that is not going to translate into much use as a President. His time in the two houses doesn’t seem to have involved any bigger responsibilities either.
I picked Elizabeth Warren for several reasons, one being that I think she should be the next president after Biden, another to please the more leftist and environmentalist part of the party and… well frankly, she seems pretty damn great from all aspects. Intelligent, well spoken, honest, caring and with a good set of principles.
So let’s get some picks and reasons from people who actually know what they are talking about instead?
Biden/Warren is probably the best Democratic ticket if you want a combination of base enthusiasm with appeal to swing voters. But Warren won’t be President after Biden unless he does only one term. She’s a political newcomer, but she’s pretty darn old. If Biden served two terms she’d be 75 when she took office.
I’ll go with Hillary Clinton and Cory Booker. However, Chris Christie would appoint Booker’s replacement in the Senate, so I wouldn’t like that. Booker seems to be an incredibly brilliant man and him and I agree on 99% of the issues .
I don’t really think Warren wants to be President or Veep. I honestly thinks she believes she can accomplish more of what she wants in the Senate under a D President with a D majority in the Senate.
Define “optimal”. Does that mean most likely to win, or most likely to implement the policies I like, or a weighted combination of the two? If the latter, then it depends on whom the Republicans nominate: If they nominate, say, Trump, then electability doesn’t matter, since any Democrat will beat him. If they nominate someone like Kasich, though, then we need to go with whomever’s most electable, and possibly settle for not being quite as strong on the policies we want.
Is Booker even throwing his hat into this ring, tho? I think very highly of him, and not just because he’s a fire-beating, baby-rescuing, homeless-housing superhero; I think he’s also a fairly skilled politician. But I haven’t heard a word about him with respect to the 2016 POTUS election.
He doesn’t have to do that to be VP. But if he wants to be President, VP is a great stepping stone, much better than trying to do it out of the Senate. I’d think Booker would be on anyone’s short list.
It’s not a done deal, but it’s looking pretty bad for her. At some point Democrats will have to notice how badly she polls against Republicans. I assume they want to win and I doubt they have much love for Clinton beyond her supposed electability.
Hillary is the best top of the ticket. Like Biden, she has experience, but unlike Biden, she doesn’t have problems with the OBL raid, abortion comments, the bankruptcy bill, or lack of constituency. Even for as much as the “scandals” are said to hurt her, its not like the GOP would waste any time bringing up Fast And Furious, Solyndra, plagiarism, or other things too.
It isn’t like the Clintons are princelings like the Bushes, Gores, or Trumps of the world. The Clintons have done what anyone would do: build wealth so that future generations of Clintons don’t have to go thru the financial struggles they had before they were President the first time. Sure Biden might be middle class now, but let’s see if he stays poor after leaving office (assuming he doesn’t seek the nomination). Is he not gonna write any books or make speeches? Of course he couldn’t use his office before hand: he failed to get the nomination both for 1988 and 2008.
If anyone would do it, why hasn’t Biden? The Bushes haven’t added substantially to their wealth since leaving office either. The Clintons are now in Kennedy territory in terms of the wealth they’ve accumulated.
And Senators are very good at generating wealth from their office. Look at Harry Reid. Being a Senator has made him a millionaire several times over.
