A Million Dollar Ticket?

So…. Bill Maher offered Elizabeth Warren one million dollars if she would run for president.

She flat out said no. But this got me thinking—why deny a run?

Even if she’s not interested, she give’s voice to her issues by at least letting the speculation continue. And while we’re at it, why not run? Admittedly, it’d be hard to beat Hillary, but if Hillary wins it’ll be another 8 years before Warren gets another shot.

She almost seems to be going out of her way to protect the “presumptive nominee”.

Meanwhile, Hillary has a number of problems. Even a lot of democrats hate her (she says she’s done a lot for woman’s rights, but what, exactly, other than just being one? And her email debacle furthered people’s perception that she sees herself above the rules). Warren, on the other hand, is immensely popular, an image as being an average “Jane”.

And now Warren has begun aggressively targeting Obama (and I’m sure she’s genuinely against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but she’s tearing into Obama like she’s a candidate looking for an issue).

So….

What if Hillary has offered Warren the VP spot (or at least serious consideration)?

Early to make that kind of promise, true, and it’s not intuitive at first glance, but…

A Clinton/Warren ticket would solve most of Hillary’s problems. It softens her image to democrats and republicans, and Warren can energize the democratic base like nobody’s business (indeed, Hillary’s problem isn’t that Democrats will vote Republican, it’s that they won’t bother voting at all). She gets both polls of the Democratic Party under one tent.

Further, there are religious conservatives (especially women) who would like to vote for a woman, but would be put off by a male VP. An all-female ticket solves that problem. It’s not a huge demo, but with a united Democratic Party, Hillary doesn’t need a huge one.

Lastly, it softens Hillary’s image—a woman of the people on the ticket.

Hillary’s principal job, up until the primaries, is finding a VP. Warren is a bold move—the last thing a front-runner need—and not something I’ve come to expect from Hillary. But more than anything, she wants a spot in the history books, and adding Warren to the ticket guarantees that (and for a woman who claims not to be running, Warren’s doing a lot of campaigning).

I think Warren is Hillary’s top VP pick, and I think she knows it, too.