This week Hillary Clinton became the first woman to secure the nomination of a major US political party. Now the presumptive Democratic nominee needs to pick a running mate. Here are some of the most talked about prospective names.
Tim Kaine
Senator from Virginia
What he brings to the ticket: The man on almost every prospective VP shortlist, Kaine is the former governor and now senator of an important swing state. He speaks fluent Spanish, having learned the language while working as a missionary at a Catholic school in Honduras. In 2013, he delivered a Senate floor speech in support of immigration reform entirely in Spanish. Kaine is a white, male politician, but that may be just what Clinton needs to appeal to opponent Donald Trump’s strongest – and her weakest – voter bloc: white men.
Julián Castro
Secretary of housing and urban development
What he brings to the ticket: Castro, with his telegenic charm and speechmaking chops, is one of the most high-profile Latino Democrats in the party. The Texas native – and twin brother of congressman Joaquín Castro – has an inspiring biography, the kind of American tale that electrifies voters on the stump: the grandson of a Mexican immigrant, raised by a single mother in a poor neighborhood of San Antonio, who became a Democratic party rising star.
Tom Perez
Labor secretary
What he brings to the ticket: The son of exiled Dominican immigrants, Perez has cultivated credibility among progressive voters and is loved by labor leaders for his sympathetic ear to many of their key concerns. As an assistant attorney general with the justice department’s civil rights division he mounted challenges to preserve voters’ rights, protect gay and lesbian Americans from discrimination and led the investigation into the killing of the 17-year-old black teen Trayvon Martin.
Sherrod Brown
Senator from Ohio
What he brings to the ticket: An unabashed progressive with blue-collar appeal from the all-important swing state of Ohio, Brown has the perfect perch on the Senate banking committee to rail against Wall Street and economic inequality. He has decades of public service under his belt, and would bring on board his wife, Connie Schultz, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and well-known feminist.
Cory Booker
Senator from New Jersey
What he brings to the ticket: The magnetic African American former mayor of Newark, whose long list of do-gooder deeds include saving a woman from a burning house and helping snowed-in constituents dig out after a 2010 blizzard paralyzed the city, is a regular on the stump for Clinton. With his oratorical brio and youthful zeal, he’s a pro at firing up a crowd for Clinton and working his magic on social media, a skill that could be useful in trying to attract the youth vote which has so far eluded her campaign. Asked recently about being considered as a running mate, Booker quipped: “I’m already her VP – her vegan pal.”
Elizabeth Warren
Senator from Massachusetts
What she brings to the ticket: Hailed as the “North Star” of the progressive movement and a “scourge of Wall Street”, Warren is the only female Democratic senator who has yet to endorse Clinton. Known for her rhetorical flaying and cross-examination-style questioning, she could be the best hope of a unifying a deeply divided Democratic party. But is America ready for an all-woman ticket? “At some point. Maybe this time, maybe in the future,” Clinton said on Tuesday night. Choosing Warren might also be a way of holding out an olive branch to Bernie Sanders’ supporters without going so far as to offer the VP slot to her opponent himself, whose thinly veiled contempt for Clinton’s perceived ties to Wall Street and insider status probably rule him out of contention.
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