Elizabeth Warren would be the dream vice presidential pick for millions of forlorn Bernie Sanders supporters, an instant antidote to the charge that Hillary Clinton is too close to Wall Street.

But in interviews with more than a dozen prominent Democrats and campaign allies, most viewed a Clinton-Warren ticket as an unlikely scenario — despite the appeal of a two-woman ticket to Clinton campaign officials and also to Clinton, who sources said is intrigued by the idea.


Clinton and the senior senator from Massachusetts don't have a close, personal relationship — in fact, there’s no evidence to show they even particularly like each other — and Clinton insiders worry Warren could upstage the likely Democratic nominee during the general election. While there’s confidence in the energy she could bring to the ticket, questions loom about the anti-Big Bank crusader’s appeal among white working class voters, as well as her lack of experience.

“Warren speaks to the left of the party, but not the working class left,” said a super delegate backing Clinton. “She speaks more to the progressive elite, not white, working class males.” As for the idea of a two-woman ticket, “if you do two women to energize the women’s vote, if that’s what she’s worried about, then we’ve got a real problem.”

“A progressive fits the bill,” said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Clinton surrogate. “The problem with Warren is that she has very little experience. She was a law professor and she’s been in the Senate for a few years. What executive experience does this person have?”

Warren has criticized Clinton in the past for flipping her stance on the bankruptcy bill because of Wall Street campaign contributions she took as a New York senator. Still, she is exactly what Clinton needs, some Democrats argue -- an independent thinker with a powerful grassroots fundraising base to tap into.

“She needs dynamism,” said a former top Democratic official with ties to the Clinton and Sanders campaigns, “someone who is pretty fresh and someone who can raise money.”

Warren, proponents of the partnership said, would also help Clinton with her gap among millennial female voters, third-wave feminists who want to see a woman elected president but not merely for the sake of electing a woman.

But the cons of Warren, many Clinton allies said, outweigh the pros. “You don’t want a vice president who’s going to outshine the president,” said the super delegate supporting Clinton. “With Warren, I think there’s a real possibility of that.”

Democrats said they would also worry about Warren’s ability to fall in line behind Clinton. When she was recruited to run for Senate from her post at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for instance, she was wary until she could be assured she could do more about banking regulation from the Senate. And Warren insiders have expressed a distrust of Clinton on their core issue of Wall Street reform.

There is potential for a rapprochement: Warren has suggested she is interested in influencing Clinton to install like-minded officials in the Treasury Department and in the West Wing economic team, rather than derailing Clinton’s candidacy.

Some top Clinton donors said Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, whom they view as easier to deal with than Warren, would be less risky and would bring into the fold the same progressive voters that love Warren. One drawback is that Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich would appoint his successor, making it likely Democrats would lose a crucial Senate seat. But Democrats said they feel confident that if Clinton wins the White House they will also win back the Senate.

Warren’s own allies acknowledge there would be plenty of reasons for Clinton to go in another direction. “It's a long shot since it would be asking Warren to give up influence for life with a four-year gig,” said a progressive leader with ties to Warren’s camp.

Rendell and other Democrats note that one of the factors likely holding Clinton back from picking Warren – or another woman -- as her running mate is the lack of obvious female choices.

The “League of Their Own” bench is thin. There are currently only three female Democratic governors -- Kate Brown, a first-term governor from Oregon; New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is currently running for Senate; and Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, who took office last year.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is considered one possibility. Clinton’s Senate successor in New York, Kirsten Gillibrand, is a top fundraiser but she’s considered less likely because she doesn’t represent a battleground state and because she’d face the constitutional obstacle that prevents two candidates from the same state from being on the ticket. Other long shots whose names have surfaced include North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Still, Democratic allies view an all-female ticket as an easy way to fire up a campaign that has suffered from a lack of enthusiasm as it gears up to take on the media showman that is Trump.

“Your visceral reaction to [two women] is boy, that’s asking white male voters to take a lot of change all at once,” Rendell said. But, he noted, Bill Clinton suffered the same sort of criticism for picking Al Gore as his running mate in 1992, when he doubled down on a young, Southern politician who looked like a carbon copy of himself. “It turned out to be an inspired pick and galvanized Democrats across the country,” he said.

Former Obama communications director Anita Dunn, summing up the opinions of many female Democrats POLITICO interviewed, said Clinton has great running room in making her selection if Trump becomes the Republican nominee.

"Because — why not?” she said of placing another woman on the ticket.

Dunn suggested leaning into “unconventional choice like Sheryl Sandberg,” pointing to the Facebook COO as an example of an outside-the-Beltway leader who is both a feminist icon and a respected voice in the business community.

Trump's opponents within his own party already see the logic of a running all-female ticket against a candidate who has alienated women voters. Former Jeb Bush communications director and anti-Trump activist Tim Miller said a woman running mate would be kryptonite against the Carly Fiorina-Megyn Kelly bashing real estate mogul. “If she is running against Trump, there is no real geographic electoral calculus, because of his unsalvageable unfavorable ratings with the public,” said Miller. “His demeaning attacks worked against male opponents but backfired against Carly Fiorina. A woman could be a really effective attack dog. It's such a no-brainer. I don't even understand the logic of picking a man.”

The prospect of Trump as the GOP nominee has scrambled the vice-presidential equation in other ways. Typically, a running mate helps to lock up a constituency or fill in holes on a candidate’s resume. But Clinton is in a unique position in a potential match-up against Trump, and allies said her main consideration should be to do no harm and avoid unnecessary risk with a flashy choice.

“She doesn’t need to reassure voters about her experience and qualifications,” said Dunn. “Even voters who may not agree with her ideologically don’t question that she is credentialed for the office. It gives her a lot more running room.”

Running against Trump, Clinton insiders said, also diminishes the need for a candidate like HUD Secretary Julian Castro, who seems to have fallen out of favor with Clinton’s inner circle, or Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who would appeal to Latino voters.

Those same people advocating for an all-female ticket concede it’s unlikely to happen because they expect the Clinton campaign and Clinton herself to think conventionally. “You could see them deciding to go with [Virginia Sen. and former DNC chairman] Tim Kaine, a safe choice,” said one Democratic source.

But even that safe harbor has some drawbacks. “Maybe you want your vice president to respond to the Trump personal attacks,” said Rendell. “Tim Kaine has excellent credentials but is he the guy who’s going to rock and roll and fire back? He’s an awfully nice guy, I don’t know if he is capable of doing that.”

Added former South Carolina state Rep. Bakari Sellers, a Clinton supporter, of a white, male pick: “I just don’t think anybody is going to get excited about Hillary Clinton and someone like Mark Warner together,” he said, referring to Virginia’s other senator. “I just think that’s traditional, pre-Obama coalition thinking. I don’t think there should be two white people on the ticket. That’s not the way we win the nomination.”

For female Clinton supporters who would love to see her pick another woman, the hope right now is the list of eligible options for the future would grow under a Clinton presidency. “Imagine what the women VP bench will look like,” said EMILY’s List spokeswoman Jess McIntosh, “after Hillary has made 50 percent of her cabinet women.”