Tom Perez For Vice President
I’ve already stated my opposition to Elizabeth Warren as Hillary Clinton’s running mate if only because progressives need her strong voice in the Senate and Democrats cannot afford to lose any Senate vote, even for a short period of time. The latter rationale is why I would refuse to consider any current Senator for Vice President – the Democratic hold on the Senate is just too important to take the chance on an appointee or special election to hold an existing seat. Because of the Democrats’ distinct lack of governorships and weakness in state houses around the country, the remaining choices are actually surprisingly slim.
Right now, I am really leaning toward current Secretary of Labor Tom Perez. Admittedly, he brings no state with him, but that kind of candidate has become increasingly rare anyway. And sure, his only electoral post was to the Montgomery County Council in Maryland but it’s going to be pretty hard for Republicans to go after him on that score considering their own Presidential candidate has NEVER held elected office.
His positives with progressives are enormous. He has pursued voting rights, civil rights, and police misconduct cases in his work in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. As Labor Secretary he has supported the fight for $15 minimum wage, paid leave, and unions frankly love him. He instituted the new overtime rule that extended overtime pay to millions of workers; he has been involved in pursuing wage theft; and he was instrumental in negotiating an end to the Verizon strike which was a huge victory for the unions. In fact, when rumors surfaced that he was being considered to replace Eric Holder as Attorney General, unions revolted, demanding that he stay in place at Labor.
Another positive is that Republicans apparently despise him – a National Review article had the headline “Tom Perez: The Leftist Radical Who Could Be Hillary Clinton’s Running Mate”. This kind of language is a rallying cry for Bernie Sanders’ young supporters who are not afraid to be identified as “socialist” and “leftist”. Added to his work in civil rights and labor, Perez could really bring a lot of Sanders’ voters on board despite having endorsed Hillary way back in December.
The final positive for Perez is his Dominican heritage and his fluency in Spanish. Trump’s racist rhetoric has already increased Hispanic political activism. Getting those citizens out to vote will not only be imperative for Hillary but could also be the tipping point in many down-ballot races, shifting the balance of power in Congress to the Democrats. Perez has shown his willingness and ability to rally the faithful and attack Trump directly. And, once again, the Democratic party would be making history with the first Hispanic on a major party ticket. What better indication would there be of the inclusiveness of our country and as a signal to the rest of the world than to have a woman and Hispanic taking their oaths of office in January next year.