While we have been reading about the Republican National Convention (RNC), Hillary Clinton still hasn’t announced her running mate. She may be announcing it as soon as Friday. There is one dark horse candidate in the running for the position: Tom Vilsack.
Vilsack is a former governor of Iowa, and he has been President Obama’s agriculture secretary since 2009. He may not be the most exciting choice, but he is in the top few of her candidate choices. There are a few more she has considered: Labor Secretary Tom Perez, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Vilsack is a class act, and he is very good about not mixing politics with business. He was at a press conference about prescription drug addiction, but reporters were asking him about the vice-president’s decision. He refused to talk about that, and he said:
“I don’t mean to be difficult, but there’s a thing called the Hatch Act, and it basically prohibits me from answering that question. I’m here in my official capacity to talk about an issue I care deeply about. I’ve been instructed by the president to focus on this. That’s my sole purpose for being in Missouri today.”
Vilsack is also a native of Pittsburgh, and he has strong ties there. Iowa and Pennsylvania are key swing states in the election. Trump won’t win the presidency if he loses those states.
Vilsack moved to Iowa with his wife in the ’70s. He practiced law there with his father-in-law, Tom Belt. He won an Iowa Senate seat in 1992, and he was re-elected in 1994. In 1998, he became the first Democratic Governor of Iowa in 32 years.
He was put in Barack Obama’s cabinet soon after Obama was elected. He is the head of an agency with 100,000 employees and a $140 billion budget. He is the longest-serving member of Obama’s cabinet.
Hillary Clinton has been carefully vetting possible candidates. She has been getting advice from her husband and from President Obama. The decision is ultimately hers, though. We will find out her final pick soon.
Here is a news story from MSNBC with Vilsack:
Image is a screengrab from YouTube.
