Sanders pressured to quit White House race, Clinton weighs VP picks

AFP (Washington): Bernie Sanders fended off pressure on Sunday to bow out of the race for the White House, as his rival, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, weighs potential running mates.

The New York Times reported that Clinton’s advisers and allies have begun extensive discussions on a potential vice presidential candidate, and are putting together a list of 15 to 20 prospects.

Clinton has described what sort of person would fit the bill, and has set objectives for the search, the Times said.

And although her options vary depending on who her Republican opponent is and other factors in a still fluid race, she is open to an all-female ticket, advisers told the Times.

Team Clinton has not ruled out for consideration is Senator Elizabeth Warren, a darling of the left who has yet to endorse Clinton, advisers told the Times.

Other names under discussion reportedly include Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of swing-state Virginia, liberal Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, another key state and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, a prominent African American politician.

Yet another option would be to go for a young rising star, like New Jersey Senator Corey Booker or Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro.

“Julian Castro, that’s the guy she should pick. He’s Hispanic, he’s young, he can energize the younger vote. She needs that,” said a Clinton supporter at a rallty in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The preparations were another sign of the Clinton campaign’s eagerness to sidestep a stubborn and increasingly acrimonious rivalry with Sanders and to get on with the general campaign.

Clinton has refrained from personally calling on Sanders to quit the race, but her supporters have become increasingly vocal in insisting the Vermont senator has no chance of winning.

The candidates face off again on Tuesday in five high-stakes primaries, with Clinton heavily favoured to add to her near insurmountable lead in the delegate count. She currently has 1,941 delegates of the 2,383 needed to win the Democratic nomination, to Sanders’s 1,240.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders talks to his supporters during a Community Conversation on Young Men of Color event in Baltimore, Maryland on 23 April