Cameras captured Elizabeth Warren leaving Hillary Clinton’s Whitehaven residence Friday morning. | AP Clinton hosts Warren amid VP buzz Influential Democrats are embracing the idea of a Clinton-Warren ticket.

Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren huddled on Friday morning, as tongues wagged in Washington about the possibility of a historic two-woman ticket that could also go a long way toward helping unify the Democratic Party after a bruising primary.

Camera trucks parked outside and wall-to-wall cable TV coverage captured Warren exiting a blue SUV with legislative director Jon Donenberg and heading into Clinton’s stately Whitehaven residence in Washington, D.C.


Warren left Clinton’s home around 11:45 a.m. Friday without addressing any reporters, and Clinton made her way to a speech before the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

But as the two spoke privately, the discussion among Democrats outside the residence was the consensus that Warren would be a great running mate — and attack dog — for Clinton, even among Bernie Sanders’ die-hard supporters.

Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Sanders’ lone Senate backer, gushed over the prospect of a Vice President Warren, casting her in an interview with CNN’s Kate Bolduan as a progressive who could continue what Sanders started.

“Right now, Kate, every progressive in America is hoping that the conversation at Secretary Clinton’s house is all about how Elizabeth Warren would be a wonderful vice president of the United States,” he said.

Merkley wasn’t as enthusiastic about Clinton but maintained that he “absolutely” supports her as the nominee.

“What I really want to see is success in November, and that means bringing together the two halves of the party. And one way to do that is through great policies that resonated so passionately in the grass roots,” he said. “Bring them into the campaign. Weave them into the convention. Make them part of the DNA of the presidential campaign that Secretary Clinton wages. There's multiple ways to do that through what Secretary Clinton herself as nominee says and pitches and also in this selection of a vice president.”

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who reignited the left when he ran for president in 2004 but endorsed Clinton in the 2016 primary, told POLITICO, “I think Elizabeth is absolutely qualified and would be a great pick.”

But he added that he hopes Clinton will instead choose “someone under 50. We need to think about transitioning the leadership of our country to the next generation.” Warren is 66.

Even Donald Trump is hoping Clinton will name Warren, the progressive firebrand and outspoken Trump critic who’s intensified her attacks on the billionaire in recent weeks, as her running mate.

“Pocahontas is at it again!” Trump tweeted, mocking the Massachusetts Democrat over the Native American heritage she described during her 2012 Senate campaign. “Goofy Elizabeth Warren, one of the least productive U.S. Senators, has a nasty mouth. Hope she is V.P. choice.”

In interviews with POLITICO, influential Democrats said they see Warren as not only a great vice presidential candidate but also a potent ally to help wage the war to prevent a Trump presidency.

David Axelrod, who served as a top adviser to President Barack Obama, praised Warren as “an extraordinarily smart, acute thinker” and ticked through her other virtues, including her ability to go after the real estate mogul.

“She’s already demonstrated that she can get inside Donald Trump’s head, and she’s been relentless in terms of bringing the attack,” he said.

Axelrod, however, also noted that it's a long commitment if the candidate wins, adding, “Whether she’d be happy to be vice president or not, I don't know.”

Democratic Delaware Gov. Jack Markell said Warren would be helpful for Clinton, on or off the ticket. He told POLITICO that Clinton is lucky to have a number of options, including not only Warren, but also Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, as well as current and former governors, including Gina Raimondo, John Hickenlooper and Deval Patrick.

“Whether or not she is on the ticket, Sen. Warren clearly has an important role to play in this campaign as an effective and powerful critic of Donald Trump and as a unifier of our party,” Markell said.

Former Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor told POLITICO that while he’s not privy to information about Clinton VP considerations, “Warren has made the most effective case against Trump of anyone in the Democratic Party.”

“She has already gotten under Trump’s skin (though admittedly he’s a thin-skinned child), and I think regardless of whether or not she’s Clinton’s choice for VP, her attacks will bait him into saying stupid, damaging things in response,” he said.

Dan Pfeiffer, a former Obama senior adviser, said “Warren offers a lot of political upside to a ticket with Hillary Clinton” but downplayed the heightened interest in who Clinton will ultimately choose. Former Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle shared a similar sentiment, suggesting that Warren would energize the base but adding that having her on the ticket would also come with a drawback.

“Elizabeth would probably energize the Democratic base more than anyone else in the party,” he told POLITICO. “The downside is that Republican crossover support would drop.”

Former California Rep. Henry Waxman said he has a “very high regard” for Warren’s abilities, particularly on domestic and economic issues, hailing her as someone who is “very brilliant in terms of economic issues.”

“I think she has so many leadership qualities. I think she would do a good job whatever opportunity came her way,” he told POLITICO. “I think she would be qualified to be president. But if I were to support her, I would want to know a lot more about her views on a whole range of issues, particularly foreign policy.”

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey also announced his support for Warren.

“I've served w/ her & know she's absolutely qualified to be potus,” he tweeted, a seeming rebuttal to former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's remark earlier in the week that Warren is “not in any way, shape, or form ready to be commander in chief.”

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer told MSNBC that he doesn’t know whether Warren is interested but argued that she’s probably on Clinton’s shortlist and is “certainly qualified” to be vice president.

“I think that there are number of very, very good candidates — Sherrod Brown, Tom Perez, Tim Kaine, just to name a few, Joaquin Castro. There are a lot of good people out there,” the Maryland Democrat said. “But there’s no doubt that Elizabeth Warren does energize a large number of Americans because she’s focused, as Hillary Clinton is focused, on making sure that they are lifted up and that they get a piece of the rock, if you will, and that they make it in our country.”

The confab at Clinton’s Washington home came a day after Warren endorsed the former secretary of state and blasted Trump as “thin-skinned” during a legal forum near the White House.

“I'm ready to get in this fight and work my heart out for Hillary Clinton to become the next president of the United States and to make sure that Donald Trump never gets anyplace close to the White House,” Warren told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

“Proud to have the support of @SenWarren — a woman who is Trump's exact opposite: honest, decent, and deeply concerned for working families,” Clinton wrote in a signed tweet she sent at 12:20 a.m. Friday.

Amid growing speculation that Clinton could name Warren as her vice presidential pick, Clinton told POLITICO on Thursday that she has the highest regard for Warren, calling her “eminently qualified for any role,” including vice president.

Warren expressed confidence that she could do the job, asserting to Maddow that she has the capacity to be commander in chief — the role a vice president would assume upon either the president’s death, resignation or removal.

Clinton will host a dinner Friday night with some of her top fundraisers, during which she’s expected to recap her protracted primary campaign against Sanders and preview her general election campaign against Trump.