What do you think of Tester for VP in 2020??

[book_worm]

I know we need all our Senators as much as possible--but I think Jon Tester would be a great choice for VP. Why?
1) Trump hates him and campaigned against him more than any other Senator and still Tester survived.

2) I think we need to have a rural as well as suburban message. I say give Tester a pick up truck (or more logically a bus) and have him campaign all across the country in rural areas/small towns telling them 1) Dems are not going to take away hunters guns and 2) what about other issues like rural health care, etc. Even if Dems could cut into Trump's rural vote by a few percentage points that can make all the difference in some states.

3) He's good with people and even looks like a good old boy without the hate.

Anyway just my 2 cents.

[UniteFightBack]

1. Not a bad idea. Ideally it will be someone who can bank their home state and we really don't

need any blue states banked.

[SCantiGOP]

2. Yeah, interesting possibility

Same approach as putting Joe on the ticket in 2008.

[vi5]

3. As long as the top of the ticket is a reliable and dynamic progressive candidate...

..I'm fine with VP having some rural appeal.

As long as we don't go all in on banking on rural or red state voters responding to our overtures.

[EffieBlack]

4. Thank you

I’m tired of the party chasing around after unreliable red state voters.

[LonePirate]

11. Agreed but if Tester is VP, then someone besides a white male needs to be atop the ticket.

The days of the Democratic Party with two white men on the ticket are over given how women and POC are the heart, soul and voting base of the party.

[vi5]

13. Totally...

....That's what I meant by someone who excites our different demographic bases and more importantly young people.

[AlexSFCA]

5. not a bad idea

not a bad idea. The only issue we may lose a dem senator seat. A midwestern on top (e.g. Sharrod Brown) and rural as running mate. We have no other choice but to pursue 50 states strategy if we want any resemplece of piece and unity in this country.

[GulfCoast66]

7. I think Brown himself would help nail down rural voters.

He has impeccable liberal credentials would bring Ohio into play.

Pair him with someone like Brown and they would be a force.

But word I have read is that His wife will divorce him if he runs! Of course, I read that in the internet!

[rzemanfl]

6. Native son of a state full of elk and deer? Not good politics in the old school. n/t

[Maru Kitteh]

16. Well to be fair, our elk population

is falling.

Tester is good at speaking to rural America. There certainly is much to consider over the next year or so.

[Hawaii Hiker]

8. I like Tester, Sherrod Brown but they need to stay in senate

Not easy to replace them if they're President, or VP picks....

Merrick Garland is not on the Supreme Court because Democrats were in the senate minority in 2016....

Unless its a state where a Democrat can be replaced EASILY, like CA, HI, NY, let's keep them in the senate...

[lilactime]

21. +1

[qazplm135]

9. I think it depends

if we are going to have a minority or female candidate, then having a Tester as VP would do for them would Biden did for Obama...provide some sort of comfort level for the mildly racist Whites who might be willing to vote for them if they think there's a white guy there to provide something. Racist/sexist, but unfortunately true.

But if we end up going with a white guy as our nominee, need a woman or POC as the VP IMO. We can't have two white guys up there.

[NewJeffCT]

17. I tend to agree

If Tester were the VP nominee, I would prefer the Presidential candidate be a person of color and/or female.

Same with Sherrod Brown.

That said, I would also prefer that any senator nominated to be VP be from a strongly blue state - California, Connecticut (Chris Murphy?), New York, etc so they can be replaced with a Democrat. I'd say Mass or Maryland as well, but both currently have Republican governors and I'm not sure of the succession rules.

[NurseJackie]

10. That's not a very compelling reason...

Trump hates him and campaigned against him more than any other Senator and still Tester survived.

That's not a very compelling reason. I have to say, that I'd rather have the best person* chosen for the job rather than drafting someone simply because Trump hates him and because it would annoy Trump. What Trump hates or finds to be annoying should count for ZERO when it comes to the criteria we use to nominate someone.

That's my 2¢.

(*someone who is: well qualified, experienced, no baggage, knows where his/her tax returns are and willingly shares them, not a racist, not a bigot, not a misogynist, intelligent, broad nationwide appeal, loyal to the party, Democrat.)

[tinrobot]

12. Don't ask me... ask the 2020 nominee.

The nominee is the one making the pick.

Tester may work well with some candidates. It's a possibility.

[maxsolomon]

14. Harris/Tester has been my choice for 2 years now

Tester peeled away some of the White Male vote that Gianforte got for the house (remember, MT is so small there's 1 Congressman).

that's key - he looks like the voters we need to pull away from Trump. Even 2% would get it done.

He can run and not risk his Senate seat, either.

[Delmette2.0]

15. Or the Montana Governor, Steve Bullock.

In 2016 Gov. Bullock was the only Democrat elected.for a State Office. Even some of the repugs like him.

[redstateblues]

18. Need that seat. He is the only Dem that could win that state

[GeorgeGist]

19. Intriguing ... got any links for info?

[brooklynite]

20. Illegal if Bullock is the Presidential candidate

[rzemanfl]

22. Yeah, that worked so well with Cheney & Dubyah both being from Texas. n/t