26% of registered voters think Bernie Sanders would make a great Vice President for Hillary Clinton. 10% think Joe Biden would be the best pick. 7% say that Elizabeth Warren is the best choice. Any of those three choices could help to shore up the Democratic base, and I’d support any of those three. There is a strong argument for picking a progressive. Even Sherrod Brown or Al Franken might help reassure both younger and liberal voters Clinton has not lost track of their priorities as shown in the primaries: Student debt, universal healthcare, income inequality, campaign finance, Wall St, trade. Especially since Trump has shown he’ll attack Hillary on those issues, by simply lying or misleading.
However, there are also rumors that Clinton is considering a moderate to reinforce her image as a moderate and broaden her appeal to Republicans, moderate Independents, and unaffiliated voters since we need to win swing voters who might turn to Trump, not just get liberals excited to vote too. Picking a weak moderate like Evan Bayh is not going to cut it. There are no more national moderate political figures. Just like Bayh they have all retired or lost reelection and are sitting on the sidelines. While it is not impossible to dust off a retired politician, they will have to be very well known already.
In my view the only way to do that credibly, due to the divided nature of our politics, is to pick a well known Republican who is popular and respected, but who will endorse our platform. Not many can. That’s when it hit me, Colin Powell meets all those criteria and is one of our most liked public figures.
Americans are looking for someone honest who cares about their lives and Colin Powell fits the bill:
“I want to continue to be a Republican because it annoys them,” Powell quipped to host Walter Isaacson.
“I think the party has shifted much further right than where the country is and it should be obvious to party leaders that they cannot keep saying and doing the things that they were doing and hope to be successful in national-level election in the future, not just in 2016,” he added.
Powell said a small faction in the GOP is alienating voters with their rhetoric on immigration.
“I think most Republicans understand that we need immigration, we are an immigrant nation, it is in our best interest to do it,” he said.
He’s been mentioned as a VP pick by supporters of Sanders, Bloomberg, Christie, and even Trump. However, the only politician he has endorsed lately is Obama whose legacy Hillary wants to defend, and while it’s true he’s getting old and his record was seriously damaged by Bush, just consider this. Can you name another former Secretary of State in hot water now for using a private email account and giving paid public speeches around the country raising money for charities they support? I can. His main disadvantage is he has been out of popular culture so long young people might ask, “Who?” Anyway, Four Star General, Secretary of State, Board Member at SalesForce.com, not a bad resume.
It’s true that picking a Republican sends mixed messages to liberals who already doubt Clinton, but he supports single payer health care, he fights poverty, and he’s been working for several decades on improving the American educational system. He’s an inspirational speaker, mostly for veterans. He’s a strong supporter of Democratic policies on immigration and foreign policy. He’s been critical of Donald Trump all along. Sure he’s a moderate, not much of an attack dog, and I have no idea if he would accept the nomination, but just consider it. If Hillary wants a Republican, he’s the best choice.
Needless to say, the campaign commercials practically write themselves:
STERN: Now getting back to dating, and when you got to say to a woman, you gotta go to my personal doctor and I’m gonna have you checked out, is that a tough thing to say to a woman?
TRUMP: It’s amazing, I can’t even believe it. I’ve been so lucky in terms of that whole world. It is a dangerous world out there. It’s like Vietnam, sort of.
STERN: Hey it’s your personal Vietnam isn’t it?
TRUMP: It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave soldier!
Next pan to still photos of Powell and grainy Vietnam footage with voice over:
Powell served a tour in Vietnam as a South Vietnamese Army advisor from 1962 to 1963. While on patrol in a Viet Cong-held area, he was wounded by stepping on a punji stake. The large infection made it difficult for him to walk, and caused his foot to swell for a short time, shortening his first tour.
He returned to Vietnam as a major in 1968, serving in the 23rd Infantry Division, then as assistant chief of staff of operations for the Americal Division. During the second tour in Vietnam he was decorated for bravery after he survived a helicopter crash, single-handedly rescuing three others, including division commander Major General Charles Martin Gettys, from the burning wreckage.
Newspaper headlines and a matter of fact voice over:
For the previous four years, Trump had avoided the draft — and the possibility of being sent to fight in the Vietnam War — by obtaining four separate deferments so he could study at Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania. With his diploma in hand and his college days over, he was suddenly vulnerable to conscription.
Trump’s exposure to the draft, however, didn’t last long. Two months later, on Sept. 17, 1968, he reported for an armed forces physical examination and was medically disqualified, according to the ledger from his local Selective Service System draft board in Jamaica, N.Y., now in the custody of the National Archives.
The ledger does not detail why Trump failed the exam — the Selective Service destroyed all medical records and individual files after the draft ended in 1973 and the military converted to an all-volunteer force.
Scrolling list of conditions that medically disqualify you from service pauses here:
Reactive tests for syphilis such as the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test or venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL) followed by a reactive, confirmatory Fluorescent Treponemal Antibody Absorption (FTA-ABS) test unless there is a documented history of adequately treated syphilis.
Now more audio from the Trump video:
TRUMP: This is better than Vietnam, but it’s uh… it’s more fun.
Fade to black: The Clinton Powell campaign approves this message.