2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Dear Clinton, you want to lose ground with your base, then pick Vilsack or Kaine [View all]CajunBlazer
(5,648 posts)1) He/she has to be someone that the nominee can work with
2) He/she has to be someone who can step in and be President day one if necessary
3) He/she has to contribute to the nominee winning and this time around, Democrats taking over the Senate - Supreme Court appointments being a prime issue this time around
If multiple candidates satisfy the first two requirements and satisfying the third means picking someone who can solidify her base, so be it. If that means picking someone to bring in other voters, so be it. If that means not picking someone because doing so means a Republican Governor gets to pick his/her replacement in the Senate, so be it. Whatever it takes to win the White House and the Senate, so be it.
What picking a a VP is not about is picking your favorite candidate. If picking the "wrong" VP (in your opinion) means you or others like you will go vote third party or not vote at all, then we don't give a damn what you think anyway.