Formidable opponents, and a formidable ticket
I honestly didn’t expect to ever write this, but I think Bernie has earned a spot on the Democratic ticket, if he would accept it. I really don’t want to litigate the reasons I’m voting for Clinton, as there are plenty of other diaries that argue and discuss that, so this is not about that. I’m also assuming, for the purposes of this diary, that Clinton will be the nominee. “The Math” is just extremely difficult for Sanders, but if he somehow manages to surprise and come back to win the nomination, I’ll happily and without reservation support him, so if you’re here to argue that Bernie will be the nominee, that’s fine, but this diary won’t speak to that.
In any case, my thinking before Tuesday had been that there was really no reason for Clinton to pick Sanders, as it would then be a very old ticket and then Clinton wouldn’t be able to “groom” a successor. However, after Bernie won MI largely on the backs of getting a TON of young people to come out and vote for him, my calculations have changed. Young people (18-29) voted at nearly the same rate as seniors in MI, which is very rare. Obama managed it in 2008 but not 2012, which probably makes up a big part of the difference in his win. If Clinton wants to win in November, and win in a massive blowout with coattails, I think Sanders would be the VP pick to deliver that.
As I mentioned, this would be a very old ticket (69 and 75), and I expect Republicans will play that up along with the whole socialist attack thing (which would happen anyway without Sanders on the ticket, but will also be somewhat blunted with him in the VP spot), but I think their combined weaknesses are much smaller than their combined strengths. Not only would they both be able to motivate their bases to turnout, but I think it would also be useful to Clinton to have a foil like Bernie in the VP spot. Obviously, they won’t (and don’t) agree on everything, but I think he’d be able to “ground” her a bit to the left.
I suspect Clinton would prefer not to have Bernie as VP, but I really think he’s earned it. I have no idea if that’s something Bernie even wants, but I suspect that he’d accept if asked, for the good of the Dem ticket. I think this would probably slightly hurt Democrats in the long run as we wouldn’t have a VP who would naturally make a good presidential candidate in 2024 (I think we can assume that Bernie will not be running for President at 83, but you never know). But winning now will always take precedence over winning later to politicians, and Clinton really wants to be President. She could win without Bernie on the ticket, but I think she’d be passing up probably her most electorally beneficial pick if she goes with someone else.
