Assuming that Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2008, who will she pick as her running-mate? Some people would say Illinois Senator Barack Obama–an excellent speaker who could help bring out the black vote.
But I’m putting my money on Colorado’s new Democratic Senator Ken Salazar. Salazar is a very dull public speaker, but he’s much closer to the political center than Obama. And Hillary doesn’t need a staunch leftist to shore up her base.
Moreover, Salazar is a proven Democratic winner under tough circumstances. His victory on Tuesday was the only Democratic victory in a seriously contested open seat, and he won in a state which George Bush carried.
A fifth-generation Coloradan, Salazar is of Mexican ancestry, and would likely increase turn-out and Democratic voting among Americans of Mexican ancestry. He might help Mrs. Clinton carry Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona, all of which have large populations of immigrants from Mexico.
Hispanics are not nearly as monolithic as some political pundits claim; I doubt that Salazar’s Mexican roots would mean a great deal to Floridians who immigrated from Cuba, or to New Yorkers from Puerto Rico.
But for the Democrats to win the electoral contest while being shut out in the South, they’re going to need to add some more states, and Salazar could be part of a winning strategy to pick up the southern Rocky Mountain states.
P.S. A couple points in response to reader comments. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson would also be a good VP choice, for many of the same reasons as Salazar. But he does have the burden of serving as Secretary of Energy under the Clinton administration. Another reader suggests that North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, who was re-elected this week, might make a stronger candidate in the general election than Senator Clinton; he is more moderate, and both parties do well nationally when they nominate Southern Governors.
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