CLINTON - SANDERS ???

      After reading the commentary below, please express your own thoughts.  Instructions on how to do so are written at the bottom of this column.  Thank you.

     Might Hillary Clinton ask Bernie Sanders to be her running mate?  

     When this question was posed to me months ago - even several weeks ago - I responded that it was totally outside the realm of possibility.  Throughout Campaign 2016, it has been my steadfast opinion that we would never see the name of the Vermont Senator...on the November 8th general election ballot...as Mrs. Clinton's choice for her Vice President.  But I may just have to amend my thoughts.

     Nobody ever expected John F. Kennedy - in 1960 - to extend an olive branch to Lyndon B. Johnson.  To quote the United States Senate Website, "The only thing that astonished politicians and the press more than Mr. Kennedy's offer of the Vice Presidential nomination to Mr. Johnson was LBJ's acceptance.  Neither man particularly liked the other."  But Senator Kennedy realized he needed Texas to defeat Richard Nixon...and Senator Johnson handed his home "Lone Star State" to JFK on a silver platter.

     In 1980 - after former California Governor Ronald Reagan defeated George H. W. Bush in 44 of 50 state primaries and caucuses - The New York Times reports that the two Republican candidates "had barely spoken."  And Mr. Bush refused to withdraw from the race until just before the California primary in June.  According to The New York Times, "Mr. Reagan considered the belated departure willful and unnecessary...and was offended by it."  So it was, therefore, somewhat shocking when Governor Reagan partnered with the former CIA Director.  

     Despite the mending of fences between John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson...and the collaboration of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush...I would never have envisioned Hillary Clinton rubbing elbows with Bernie Sanders as her Vice Presidential nominee.  But Campaign 2016 has been the craziest election cycle in history.  As such - and at this point - I wouldn't count out anything from happening.

     I have consistently written that Democrats - nationwide - always end up coming together to vote for their party's nominee.  And my confidence for a unified Democratic Party - all across the United States - has remained high throughout the last 13 months.  However...there is a "but," which has given me reason to think that former Secretary of State Clinton just may choose Senator Sanders to be her "Number Two."

     Americans in 2016 are rewriting the norms of politics.  Today...there are no more norms.  After all...nobody - or at least very few people - gave Donald Trump favorable odds in winning the Republican nomination when he announced his candidacy in June of 2015.  Most journalists - and Americans of all walks of life - argued, a year ago, that the billionaire businessman would be out of the race by last summer's end.  You may recall that I - on the other hand - labeled Mr. Trump a "superstar"...and was convinced - because of his celebrity - that the real estate mogul and television personality...would go far in to the nomination process.  I did not, however, think that Mr. Trump would be as successful with his campaign as he is now.

     All that being said...Hillary Clinton may end up needing Bernie Sanders, so that his advocates will vote for her as our nation's 45th President.  But must Mrs. Clinton join forces with Mr. Sanders in order for her to beat Donald Trump?  No...I don't think so.  It may, however, relax everybody's nerves a bit...just in case the Sanders supporters decide not to vote...if he is not on the Democratic ticket.                      
 
     Historically...geography has - more often than not - played a part in a Presidential nominee's decision when selecting a running mate.  But not always.  Let

us remember that two southerners - Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Senator Al Gore of Tennessee - teamed up in 1992 to win The White House...and were victorious again in 1996...to remain in office for a second term.  So a pair from the same area of the country - this year from the northeast with a former Senator from New York and a current Senator from Vermont, who was born and raised in "The Big Apple's" Borough of Brooklyn - isn't entirely unusual.

     I certainly don't want to see those who "Feel The Bern" - Democrats and Independents alike - staying home on Election Day...as many have stated they will do if Senator Sanders is not the Presidential nominee.  Therefore, depending on how Sanders supporters react once the primary season has concluded and the Philadelphia convention grows closer...it might become apparent - and to some, appealing - to see the faces of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders together on one campaign poster.

     Surveys and statistics have shown that a Vice Presidential candidate is generally not a factor - plus or minus - when Americans vote.  But that's the past.  And - as I indicated earlier in this column - the 2016 election is unlike any other.  And it may take a united Clinton and Sanders...to get the "Bernie Backers"...to give "High Fives...to Hillary."

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again"

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

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Photo credits: reuters.com (former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton #1), cnn.com and turner.com (Senator Bernie Sanders #1), jfklibrary.org and livebinders.com (former President John F. Kennedy and former President (as Vice President) Lyndon B. Johnson), allpostersimages.com (former President Richard M. Nixon), wikiquote.org (former President Ronald Reagan), alternatehistory.com (former President George H. W. Bush), Fox News Channel and deadline.com (Mr. Donald Trump), nbcnews.com (former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton #2), nbcnews.com (Senator Bernie Sanders #2), AFP/Getty Images and dailymail.co.uk (former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore) and NBC News and wsj.com (former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders)
 
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