Brian Schatz

[Vega]

Is there any reason why he isn't being considered, at least for VP? He's the senior Senator from Hawaii with Legislative and Executive experience. Seems like a solid candidate to me.

[Suburbia]

Brings executive and legislative experience, wouldn't overshadow the presidential nominee, and is a safe choice. Downsides is that he won't excite Democrats in the fall of 2016. Good choice.

[Senator Cris]

Good choice.

[Mister Mets]

You mentioned him as a potential Webb running mate, and I think he's even better for Clinton.

He's a white guy in an interracial marriage (his wife is Asian.)

He's young and liberal, which can help with the base.

His record is just long enough that he doesn't appear too inexperienced, but there isn't anything distracting that would scare centrist voters.

A Lieutenant Governor appointed to the Senate, he knows when to be the running mate and when to be the mainattraction.

He was Chair of a Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, which helps establish him as a policy expert on something important and modern.

I don't see Clinton picking anyone who backed Obama over her in 2008, though.

[Vega]

He'd be a great choice for most 2016 Dems, but especially for Clinton, I have to agree with you there.

[Angel of Death]

Nice try, Colleen.

[KCDem]

Is there any reason why he isn't being considered, at least for VP? He's the senior Senator from Hawaii with Legislative and Executive experience. Seems like a solid candidate to me.

He's the junior senator.

[Vega]

Is there any reason why he isn't being considered, at least for VP? He's the senior Senator from Hawaii with Legislative and Executive experience. Seems like a solid candidate to me.

He's the junior senator.

No, he's the Senior Senator by a few days. Schatz was appointed after Inouye died.

[Free Bird]

Is there any reason why he isn't being considered, at least for VP? He's the senior Senator from Hawaii with Legislative and Executive experience. Seems like a solid candidate to me.

He's the junior senator.

No, he's the Senior Senator by a few days. Schatz was appointed after Inouye died.

Which was right before Akaka left

[KCDem]

Is there any reason why he isn't being considered, at least for VP? He's the senior Senator from Hawaii with Legislative and Executive experience. Seems like a solid candidate to me.

He's the junior senator.

No, he's the Senior Senator by a few days. Schatz was appointed after Inouye died.

Mysoginy at its finest.

[CountryClassSF]

Is there any reason why he isn't being considered, at least for VP? He's the senior Senator from Hawaii with Legislative and Executive experience. Seems like a solid candidate to me.

A) Too much Anti-semitism within the Democrat Party. (They booed Israel at the convention for heaven's sake).

B) Schatz barely survived his primary, and his appointment upset half of the Hawaii D electorate

C) He has not even served 2 years in the US Senate yet, and didn't fill out his term as Lt. Gov.

D) He was one of Obama's staunchest allies in the 2008 primary against Hillary.

[Vega]

To point A, that's just funny (looks at Joe Lieberman, Ron Wyden, Ben Cardin, Jared Polis, Debbie Wassermann-Schaltz, among others).

To point B, it's routine for a appointed incumbent to have a primary challenger and for it to be a narrow win. He has approval ratings in the high 60s.

To point C, Barack Obama would like to have a word.

To point D, yeah, and so were 17 million other Democrats.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Hillary won't pick him. The Clintons have a list.

He also doesn't bring any electoral advantage or needed experience.

[tmthforu94]

He would be an okay choice if it is looking like Hillary is going to romp. It would only further alienate me from Hillary, though, after what he did to HanabUSA.

[MurrayBannerman]

To point A, that's just funny (looks at Joe Lieberman, Ron Wyden, Ben Cardin, Jared Polis, Debbie Wassermann-Schaltz, among others).

To point B, it's routine for a appointed incumbent to have a primary challenger and for it to be a narrow win. He has approval ratings in the high 60s.

To point C, Barack Obama would like to have a word.

To point D, yeah, and so were 17 million other Democrats.

You know we're talking about Hillary Clinton, right? Loyalty is huge with her.

[Vega]

To point A, that's just funny (looks at Joe Lieberman, Ron Wyden, Ben Cardin, Jared Polis, Debbie Wassermann-Schaltz, among others).

To point B, it's routine for a appointed incumbent to have a primary challenger and for it to be a narrow win. He has approval ratings in the high 60s.

To point C, Barack Obama would like to have a word.

To point D, yeah, and so were 17 million other Democrats.

You know we're talking about Hillary Clinton, right? Loyalty is huge with her.

I'm sure it is, but that doesn't mean that's good.

[Mister Mets]

Hillary, or whoever the Democratic candidate ends up being, is about eighteen months away from picking a running mate.

At this point, it's too early to tell if someone has received adequate consideration.

The biggest knock against him at the moment is that he's relatively anonymous. That's in contrast to legislators who have been chosen as running mates in the last generation (Lieberman, Edwards, Biden, Ryan.) Though Wendy Davis, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have established that a filibuster can raise a legislator's profile.

[CountryClassSF]

He would be an okay choice if it is looking like Hillary is going to romp. It would only further alienate me from Hillary, though, after what he did to HanabUSA.

I'm happy to agree with you --- Colleen was a huge HRC supporter, while Schatz (diligently) worked against her in the primary.  I wish she had won.

 I think Schatz will be off the VP list. I think even if she is going to win she is going to pick a loyalist.

[The_Doctor]

I'd say that it would be a sign of strength for Hillary to pick someone from the Obama side of the ledger. But they could pick someone from Obama's supporters, for political benefit, and then basically relegate them to a dusty office in the next four years. It's not unheard of.

That said, Brian Schatz probably does a lot for Hillary, being young, representing a state that's predominantly minority majority, and being liberal. He would be a decent vice presidential pick that's safe. He would also signal to the Democratic Party that the Clinton purges (not a too strong word, they've actually been slowly purging people who crossed them in 2008) are over (with her leading the Democratic Party).

Yeah, this is a good VP pick.

[HAnnA MArin County]

He would be an okay choice if it is looking like Hillary is going to romp. It would only further alienate me from Hillary, though, after what he did to HanabUSA.

I'm happy to agree with you --- Colleen was a huge HRC supporter, while Schatz (diligently) worked against her in the primary.  I wish she had won.

 I think Schatz will be off the VP list. I think even if she is going to win she is going to pick a loyalist.

This is absolutely true. The Clintons value loyalty, and there'd be absolutely no way Hillary would choose someone who endorsed Obama and defeated someone who endorsed her in 2008.

CountryClassSF has it on the point: she is going to pick a loyalist from 2008. I seem to remember when Bill endorsed several congressional candidates who endorsed her over those candidates who endorsed Obama in member-vs-member elections following redistricting (Sherman/Berman, Pascrell/Rothman, etc.).

[henster]

This loyalty thing for Clinton's makes no sense. How many attractive VP candidates are out there that fit that would fit their criteria.

[Mister Mets]

This loyalty thing for Clinton's makes no sense. How many attractive VP candidates are out there that fit that would fit their criteria.

Only one is needed.

http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2012/12/joaquin-julian-castro-made-donations-to-hillary-clinton-john-edwards-but-not-obama-in-2008/

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[Ebowed]

That's interesting, I remember Castro talking on The Daily Show about how the campaign committees harass the representatives into donating cash every cycle.  He made it sound like he was reluctant to actually do it.

[Bull Moose Base]

Loyalty will be a non-factor if the race is remotely close. Anyone who doesn't get that is hopelessly stupid. Even if she has a fairly comfortable lead, doing no harm still trumps loyalty and Tim Kaine, the first major office holder to endorse Obama, is a viable choice, though the risk to his senate seat is a deterrent. Hickenlooper another early Obama supporter is another likely choice. Schatz feels less so. If Hillary is polling double digit leads, sure, she might pick McAuliffe.

[Miles]

Hillary won't pick him. The Clintons have a list.

He also doesn't bring any electoral advantage or needed experience.

This.

As probably the most pro-Hanabusa person on here during the primary, I'll say that I'm starting to warm up to Schatz. I kinda just hope he stays in the Senate for the next 3-5 decades to build up seniority for HI.