I just figured something out that I have not yet seen considered in the presidential campaign.
The governors of Vermont and Massachusetts are both Republicans. Governors get to choose replacements for Senators who resign. That means that if Bernie wins the Democratic nomination and the general election, he will be replaced in the Senate by a Republican. If he names Elizabeth as his running mate and wins, the Dems would lose TWO Senate seats. If Biden chooses Warren for VP and wins, then we’d still lose one Senate seat. (Amy would be a safe choice by this metric, since Michigan has a Democratic governor.)
It’s no secret that flipping the Senate and putting Moscow Mitch out of business is almost as important as winning the White House. Dems stand a decent chance of doing this, if they pick up all three of the seats where the Dem candidate is currently polling ahead of the GOP candidate, and… if they don’t lose any seats. How much of Bernie’s agenda would succeed if McConnell still controls the Senate?
Thoughts?
Update: Apparently the procedure to replace senators differs in various states. I thought what happened in Illinois when Obama became President was the norm. My bad.
Even worse — I wrote that Amy’s from Michigan when she’s actually from Minnesota. I knew that! Duh! I clearly need more coffee.
Big shoutout to the Kossacks who set me straight. The reason I posted my worries here is because I knew if I was wrong, the experts in the community would educate me.