Sanders-AOC — that’s the ticket — Why Sanders should Pick AOC as His Running Mate

As it slowly becomes clear to the Democratic Party that Senator Warren’s whole Bernie-said-a-woman-can’t-win charge was a custom-CNN made tool used by CNN to uncork its attempted take-down of Sanders in the most recent debate and its post-debate analysis; political scientists (including me) would point to Senator Warren being the perfect ‘useful idiot‘ in this situation — causing a CNN-inspired division among the progressives and liberals not to threaten their chance to defeat Trump (which they’ve done) but to help Biden — Sanders should take the opportunity CNN created to announce he will ask AOC to be his running mate, if he wins the nomination.

All of which is not to say that Senator Warren’s all too predictable fall led her and others to the “I’m losing because I am a woman,” excuse, as I predicted would happen here.

Just to be clear, Warren’s words are not the reason for Sanders to announce AOC as his running mate. AOC’s strengths and the political balance she brings to Sanders are the reasons why she should be his running mate.

Warren’s stunt merely provides the opportunity to do what Sanders should do, regardless of Warren’s continued and vastly expanding creative license of re-telling events, especially about herself, that turn out to be fiction.

Here a few of AOC’s pluses, and why she should be Sanders running mate:

AOC is a woman (see the first paragraph, above).

AOC is a woman of color.

AOC is Latino, she speaks fluent Spanish.

AOC is a millennial.

AOC is a celebrity who can repeatedly turn out 2,000 people at a Sanders rally — in Iowa, and 26,000 turned out to see AOC at the largest Dem Presidential campaign event this cycle.

Sanders and AOC know and like each other, enjoy working together. They have a positive working relationship.

She is a rock star fund-raiser who raised more money than the Speaker of the House or any other Democrat.

She accomplished two near impossible electoral feats in her election.

First, her 40 and under voter turnout equaled her 60 and over voter turnout. This feat is unheard of, unprecedented and historic.

AOC’s other near-impossible feat was to have 68% of her voters be non-voters she turned into voters. Practitioners of the arts of elections simply would reject the possibility of such results out of hand, like scientists reject any possibility of a perpetual motion machine or cold fusion.

These two electoral feats — if either is replicated — will win Sanders-AOC the primary and the general election.

These accomplishments are part and parcel of AOC’s DNA, the fiber of her being. and with AOC on the ticket, it will be embedded in their campaign, as it is now in the early States.

What about the fact that AOC is not yet 35 years old? Isn’t she too young? What about the 12th and 25th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution about the office of U.S. Vice President?

My reading of the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is there is a requirement that the Vice President be 35 years old. The 12th Amendment states, in the last sentence, that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”

There is a simple way to enforce the 35-year-old requirement for President:

If Sanders were elected President with AOC as his running mate and Sanders died, AOC would not be able to be President. That would be that.

So what if AOC is a Vice Presidential nominee who could not be President if Sanders’ dies? The third in line for the Presidency would become the President, that would be the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

However, the 12th Amendment states “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States,” meaning, AOC could not hold the office of Vice President, but it does not mean she could not be the nominee to be Vice President.

And her eligibility could/would be litigated in the courts before or after Sanders won, or before she was sworn in.

Meanwhile, Sanders accrues all the political benefits of AOC being on the ticket.

Or, once Sanders won, AOC could be Vice President in all but title and office.

Sanders could treat her like she was the Vice President and not name an actual Vice President until after he won, or until the courts forced him too.

There are workarounds for Sanders to name AOC and get the massive political boost she provides for him to win.

Why should Sanders throw all of what AOC brings to the ticket away because she can’t be sworn in as President if he dies?

How many times has a U.S. President died while in office? Eight have died in office, out of 45, or about 18%. In other words, 82% of the time the Vice President is never called upon to be President.

Why should Sanders not love the hew-and-cry about making AOC his running mate and dominate the political realm for weeks?

Why wouldn’t he use that to make sure every one of those in the modern American voting population knows that Sanders is willing to suffer the slings and arrows of the Establishment, the media and the trolls to make sure they are represented in the White House by someone like them, someone like AOC?

Why shouldn’t Sanders signal to the women, people of color and Millenials that he is willing to take all the heat and incoming for them, to have AOC in the White House with him?

We all know this will be Sanders’ last run for the Presidency.

Who will take over his legacy? It won’t be Senator Warren.

AOC, that is who.

She is already undergoing unbelievably valuable training at running for President, being Sanders’ top surrogate speaker.

And her integration into the management and strategy of the campaign, as well, is providing AOC with valuable, actually priceless experience.

It is for all these reasons, Sanders should announce that if he wins, AOC will be his running mate — say, a couple of weeks before the Iowa caucus.