at a time when I'm searching for reasons to like this pick I think my cousin makes some good points......again FWIW....
Cory Knobel
18 hrs · Long Beach, CA ·
Tim Kaine as VP pick...is one of the most strategically smart choices Hillary Clinton could have made with respect to Elizabeth Warren. People in my network are posting a lot of "Kaine isn't exciting. Warren would have impassioned me." sentiments. Fair enough, but I think there's a larger, longer-term set of issues at play here. The VP pick may not excite or entertain (and I'd suggest that the fact that we expect our candidates to fulfill our insatiable need for entertainment bends toward the pathological), but the job of a VP isn't particularly exciting.
The US Constitution itself limits the powers of the VP to (1) assuming the role of president, should the president be rendered unable to serve, and (2) presiding over the Senate, casting a deciding vote in the event of a tie. That's it. That's all. And while Vice Presidents have taken on other responsibilities at the behest of the President, the office has a history of working in the background.
That would be an extreme waste of Elizabeth Warren's visibility, potential, strength, and notably, her economic acumen.
Not being chosen as VP leaves Warren available for something far more powerful - Secretary of the Treasury. You want progressive transformation to the way Wall Street is regulated? Warren has the potential to wield the power of the Treasury in ways unseen in contemporary times. She's a fierce economic mind and financial policy genius with an advocacy streak cut from the same cloth as Alexander Hamilton.
Hillary Clinton, for whatever virtues or vices we want to highlight, has shown herself to be a long-term strategist with pieces on the board everywhere. Warren in a transformative financial and policy role potentially sets her up to be a stronger Presidential candidate in the future than letting her languish offstage as VP for four or eight years.
Now it's up to Clinton to pick her cabinet smartly if elected. I suspect several of the people vetted for VP that excited people - Warren, Booker, Perez, Castro - may be named to a new cabinet in roles that allow them to shine far brighter than a term or two as VP would.
AI
