Who will be the running mates?

[GrandizerII]

Bernie Sanders is beating every Republican by numbers that could run against him in the general election.

Oh, stop it.  They haven't even started working Sanders over yet because they don't consider him the likely nominee.  If he ever did get the nomination you'd hear the word SOCIALIST repeated so often your ears would bleed and with the morons who make up the 'murrican electorate it would work.

And again, that has nothing to do with subtracting two democratic votes in the senate.

So what advantage would Hillary have here? Republicans hate her more than they hate Obama. You think they're going to make it easier for Hillary?

[Clueless Morgan]

I think we can conclude the primary winners will be Trump and Clinton. Who will they choose to run with them?

Trump is ahead for the sole reason that there are still 27 other GOP nominees splitting the vote. I very much doubt that when it's finally whittle down to Trump v. Cruz or Trump v. Rubio that Trump will win the GOP nom.

As for the Dem side, who the hell knows what's going on. Clinton would be the obvious winner in other years, but this is turning into an "upstarts allowed" election and Sanders is doing well.

The difference between Sanders and Trump for me in terms of being the upstart is that Sanders has good numbers against ONLY Clinton, whereas Trump has good numbers BECAUSE of the large candidate pool with the GOP voters. I can't see Bush supporters rallying behind Trump - they'll go to a Cruz or a Rubio; Kasich supporters likewise. Trump might get the Carson contingent when he finally bites the dust because they're on more equal levels with the crazy but everyone else is likely to go to whomever Trump goes against which will ultimately lose him the nomination.

The real question for me is whether Trump will be true to his word and run as an independent when he is finally out matched.

[AFTT47]

The party machine will pull out all the stops to prevent that, including a brokered convention if it comes down to crunch time.

I agree.   Then the only question is does he fuck them over by running as an independent?  It's a perfect storm for him.  He gets to continue shouting horseshit to his fans, he fucks the GOP up the ass and he doesn't have to worry about actually winning.

I find everything about this highly plausible. The party is probably terrified right now and willing to do just about anything short of hiring a hit man to bring down Trump. If they're successful, it will only be through majorly dirty tactics which will infuriate Trump and his supporters. In that scenario, he'll run a brutal campaign as an independent. I wouldn't put it past him to use a stars and stripes-clad flying finger as his campaign logo.

Of course the Republicans might anticipate all this and just resign themselves to him getting the nomination. They're fucked either way.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I don't think Trump's winning the nomination is even remotely a foregone conclusion. The party machine will pull out all the stops to prevent that, including a brokered convention if it comes down to crunch time. They know a Trump nomination is a loser in the general election. The real question for me is whether Trump reneges on his promise not to run as a third-ticket independent if he doesn't get the nomination. Regardless, he's fucked the GOP but good!

I'm still picking that empty suit Rubio to win the nomination through whatever chicanery the party bosses deem necessary. If that proves to be the case, his smart pick for running mate, in my opinion, is Kasich, who would bring executive experience to the ticket. Besides, the GOP would then sport a ticket representing two crucial swing states: Florida and Ohio.

Clinton will definitely get the nomination, and that presents an interesting spectacle. Will she move left with her choice for running mate to appease the Sanders supporters (I'm thinking Warren here), or does she go with someone closer to her ideologically, at the risk of alienating the most passionate wing of the party?

I don't think she'll pick Warren, two females are too much for too many male Americans.

[TheRealJoeFish]

My assessment of the situation: Clinton will almost certainly be the nominee. I am voting Sanders in the primary and am encouraging everyone to vote Sanders in the primary but I simply see the numbers coming down heavy in Clinton's favor. Quite frankly, I would be absolutely fine with a Clinton nomination. I want Sanders to run and win but the demographics strongly suggest there aren't enough young persons to counteract all the baby boomer democrats who will never ever vote for someone with the tag "socialist".

I do think that, if the convention was held today, Trump would be the nominee. Each day that goes by pushes him more and more towards that. Now, it's clear that most Kasich voters will go for Rubio, and most Carson voters will go for Cruz, once they drop out. Virtually all Rubio/Kasich voters would vote for Cruz before Trump. But here's the important point: a very solid portion of Cruz voters would vote for Trump before Rubio. Certainly not a majority, but maybe 35%. So here's what I see happening:
- Establishment Republicans push Carson and Kasich to both drop out and endorse Rubio.
- Both drop out after Super Tuesday, Rubio gets most of their votes.
- We end up with about Trump 35%, Cruz 35%, Rubio 30% - essentially a dead heat.
- The haunting realization dawns on the GOP that Cruz dropping out = Trump win, because enough Cruz voters go to Trump; if Rubio drops out, though, Cruz gets most of his voters.
- Just before the convention, Rubio plays good boy, follows orders, and drops out so Trump will not win. CRUZ gets the nomination

Ok, so, therefore, my prediction is Clinton v. Cruz. So, who are the running mates?

Clinton will want someone from a swing state, but I'm not sure anyone will present themselves. I could make a very strong case for Cory Booker, Senator from New Jersey. Booker is a young, African-American graduate from Yale Law School (by far the best in the country) who served a very successful couple of terms as they mayor of Newark. He has presidential aspirations, it is rumored, and he will be 55 years old at the end of two Clinton terms, if she wins. Even if she loses, he will get major national name recognition and after one or two Republican terms will probably look pretty darn good to the left.

If Cruz wins, I could absolutely see him taking on Kasich. That would likely swing Ohio red, and would show voters that Cruz isn't afraid to go mainstream or have someone in his staff who disagrees with him on, ahem, evangelical points.

If it's Clinton/Warren, Booker, or someone similar vs. Cruz/Kasich or someone similar, I'd predict a moderate Clinton victory, something like 298-240. Ohio, Nevada, New Mexico and Virginia could all turn red from 2012, with maybe Missouri swinging blue.