http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/278219-sanders-warren-ticket-would-sweep-the-nationApril 29, 2016, 05:00 pm
Sanders-Warren ticket would sweep the nation
By Brent Budowsky, columnist, The Hill
For purposes of analysis, and to offer a hint to Team Clinton about the respect that should be shown to Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and his supporters between now and the Democratic convention, my bet would be that a ticket combining Sanders with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) would leave any Republican ticket with Donald Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) ticket in the distant dust and win a landslide victory for Democrats in November.
No, I will not be placing a wager on a Sanders-Warren ticket, though the chances that probable Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would run with Warren are certainly real, if not probable. The fact that Sanders runs 15 percentage points ahead of Trump in the RealClearPolitics summary of polling is the most important single fact of American public opinion in the presidential campaign. I write about the possibility of a Sanders-Warren ticket to make a very big point about the political state of the nation and the wisest direction Clinton and Democrats should chart.
The combination of the two leading progressive populists in national politics — Sanders and Warren — on a presidential ticket would be an unbeatable combination with appeal to voters who want economic fairness, a pro-American trade policy, a truly universal healthcare system, an end to banks that remain too big to fail and a social justice in the spirit of Pope Francis.
By comparison to Sanders, Warren and Clinton, the two leading GOP candidates for president are parading around the country calling each other liars. Former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) went so far as to call Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh." Since his running mate Carly Fiorina famously laid off nearly 30,000 workers during her failed tenure at Hewlett-Packard, perhaps that ticket could be called "Lucifer and layoffs"!
I am proud that, here at The Hill, Sanders always gets a fair shake, but appalled that so many in the mainstream media have always put Sanders, his campaign and the progressive movement in the back of the media bus.
Sometimes I think that Sanders and his supporters might consider a national hunger strike where every Sanders supporter waves a banner that proclaims: Sanders obliterates Trump by 15!
Perhaps then, CNN, which regularly interrupts its programs for "breaking news" to hear Trump insult someone in another empty speech, would break into the Trump speech to see Sanders supporters remind the nation that he — not Trump and not Clinton — performs the strongest in presidential polls, by far.
There is a progressive populist wave in America, which is why Sanders does indeed perform far better in polls, day after day, than Trump and far better than Clinton, day after day, in match-up polls against Trump.
The issues that Sanders and Warren champion, from breaking up banks to establishing truly universal healthcare to raising Social Security benefits — among many others — are highly popular and the right positions, whether lobbyists or old-style campaign consultants get it or not.
What does it tell us that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), the chair of the Democratic National Committee and obvious Clinton partisan, sought to schedule debates at times designed to minimize the number of voters who could watch the Sanders populist message? What are party insiders afraid the voters will hear in debates?
I have no doubt that a Sanders-Warren ticket would not only rally progressive and Democratic workers and small donors; it would also appeal to political independents, as Sanders does, which is a major reason he is the strongest candidate in either party as measured by polling and fundraising numbers.
For this reason, I want to add my voice today in suggesting that Clinton should give serious thought to running with Warren on the ticket as her vice presidential candidate. Setting aside that it would be a huge moment to elect the first woman president alongside the first woman vice president, the prospect of running against two powerful strong women would probably drive Trump stark raving crazy!
While the prospect of Trump trying to insult two women on the same ticket at the same time has huge entertainment value, it would be even better to consider that the ticket might even bring a third woman back to power, if Democrats regain control of the House and Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) regains the Speakership!
Yes, indeed, my view is that a Sanders-Warren ticket would sweep the nation — and running against Trump, a Clinton-Warren ticket would sweep the nation as well!
