Let's talk about 2020

[WillTheMormon]

Hillary Clinton is shot by a lunatic right-winger in 2018. Vice-President Mark Warner becomes president and defeats Ted Cruz, the Republican nominee in a landslide in 2020.

Warner wins every state except for Idaho and Wyoming. Since Ted Cruz is the GOP nominee and the country is still mourning Hillary's death (think Johnson vs. Goldwater 2.0), the economy is in fairly decent shape and the country is in no wars, the election is basically a walk in the park for Warner. Utah is the only real swing state his election, which Warner manages to carry with Jim Matheson as his VP. The only states Cruz wins are Idaho, Wyoming and NE-3. Bernie Sanders runs a splinter Socialist ticket claiming that Warner has alienated social progressives. They don't really do that much damage except in Vermont (which Sanders carries), the Bay Area and the "People's Republic" of Madison.

President Mark Warner (Virginia-Dem.) / Vice-President James Matheson (Utah-Dem.): 527 EV (53%)
Senator Ted Cruz (Texas-Rep.) / Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming-Rep.): 8 EV (25%)
Senator Bernard Sanders (Vermont-Socialist) / Former Senator Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin-Socialist): 3 EV (20%)

[WillTheMormon]

President Mark Warner (Virginia-Dem.) / Vice-President James Matheson (Utah-Dem.): 527 EV (53%)

And here I was thinking Clinton/Warner was the worst ticket the Democrats could nominate

Are you kidding me? I as an independent voter living in a swing state and also being a very guilty ticket-splitter who hates Clinton (more for personal rather than political reasons) would vote for her if her running mate is Warner. Except if the Republican nominee is Huckabee or Brian Sandoval. I like Warner as he's a moderate who is one of the very few prospective Democratic candidates who can work fairly decently with a Republican congress which is looking more and more like a reality with the midterms coming up. Having two moderates (to an extent Hillary is a moderate compared to other members of her party) would also attract a lot of other people with similar views to me.