Could America take a presidential ticket that has two white grandmothers?

RASHMEE ROSHAN LALL June 29, 2016

hillary clintonJust days ago, Hillary Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren campaigned together in Ohio. By all accounts, they seemed to be having a good time and so did the people who attended.

So could a Hillary ticket really have a woman as vice-presidential pick? This question is really not about Senator Warren’s abilities so much as whether it would be a good idea for the Democrats to offer two white women in their 60s. I know we’ve historically had two white men but there’s something about a two-woman ticket that may be difficult to sell. Especially, to white men who’re anxious they’re losing control.

Might it not be better to choose a Latino running mate for Ms Clinton?

Such a move would, as columnist Marcela Garcia wrote in The Boston Globe, “transcend symbolism and provide many practical advantages to the presidential ticket.”

In this regard, there’s been a lot of mention of Julian Castro, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Tom Perez, Labor Secretary.

Ms Garcia, however, says the very best of a good selection is Xavier Becerra, California US Representative and House Democratic Caucus Chair. He is, she points, out the highest-ranking Latino member of Congress and has a compelling personal story as the son of a woman who emigrated from Jalisco, México, and became a clerical worker, and a father who never made it past the sixth grade. Mr Becerra is supposed to be quick on his feet – ideologically and in terms of political retorts.

Julian Castro, a former mayor of San Antonio, also has an inspiring story (he and his brother were raised in poverty but with love by his unwed politically active Mexican-immigrant mother and grandmother). He went on to Stanford and his ideas about planning for the future are worth a listen.

The wealth of choices make it a difficult choice.