Many might be wondering why Senator Elizabeth Warren isn’t my top pick to be Bernie’s Vice Presidential nominee. The answer is quite simple; Bernie needs Warren’s voice in the Senate, and Bernie is already covering the economic issues that Warren espouses. Having Warren on the ticket would essentially make his campaign one-dimensional, focused solely on economic inequality. It is an important issue, but one cannot win the presidency by putting all of their eggs in one basket. Bernie needs to run alongside someone with business and foreign policy experience, but who also believes in his populist social message, to silence critics who say that Senator Sanders lacks foreign policy and business experience.

Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) is the perfect recruit. Congresswoman Gabbard served two tours of duty in the Iraq War, even postponing a run for the state legislature to volunteer for duty in Iraq. She is hell-bent on defeating Daesh while simultaneously strongly opposing toppling foreign leaders and creating power vacuums for groups like Daesh to fill. During her tour of duty in Iraq, every soldier that she was in command of made it home safely. She also trained Kuwaiti troops to fight against extremists.

Congresswoman Gabbard graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree in international business in 2009. She is pro-business, but voted against the bank bailout, and has stated that it is a reality that the big banks are bigger than they were when they were “too big to fail.” She agrees with Sanders on this important issue, and has the business degree that gives her positions on Wall Street issues more credibility.

In my personal opinion, Bernie needs to bring up his accomplishments as the mayor of Burlington, where he created a booming business district, kept jobs local, promoted affordable housing and reduced the unemployment rate to just three percent. His mayoral policies are still so popular in Burlington that not even conservative elected officials in Burlington today can overturn the progressive policies that Bernie implemented as mayor in the 1980s. Having Tulsi there to explain that Bernie is working to, “have a sustainable economy that works for all families,” like he made possible in Burlington, will lend him credibility from an economically astute member of Congress.

Having a vice president with backgrounds in the military and in business would make it nearly impossible for Bernie's opponents to attack him on these two issues that his opponents will surely attempt to capitalize on in the general election. Right now his opponents are licking their lips and will attempt to paint Sanders as weak on defense or as a communist. Selecting Tusli Gabbard as his vice presidential nominee will stop these attackers in their tracks. Bernie could then deploy Tusli to discuss business and foreign policy issues with the press, and it will demonstrate that even someone with a background in the military and in business supports Bernie, which has the potential to not only broaden his base but also silence his harshest critics.

As much as I admire Senator Warren and her important work, she offers only economic expertise and lacks foreign policy knowledge and experience. Senator Warren is needed in the Senate to make certain that Bernie has a strong voice echoing his ideas and policy proposals in the legislature. Having Warren in the Senate will help tremendously when making policy pitches to the American people and getting meaningful reforms passed into law.

Tusli, who is the Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee and has called for more Democratic debates, offers the foreign policy and business experience and knowledge that Bernie needs in order to silence his critics. This is why I think that Bernie/Tulsi 2016 is a winning Democratic ticket, and why Sanders/Warren may sounds great on paper but would do nothing to silence the voices of opposition who are concerned that Bernie is weak on foreign policy or who would resort to calling him a communist if given the opportunity. Having Tulsi by his side to defend him every step of the way would mute those critics and pave the way to a Sanders’ presidency.

Here is Tulsi’s full biography...

Tulsi Gabbard, the fourth of five children, spent her life growing up in beautiful Hawai‘i. As a teenager, she co-founded an environmental non-profit called Healthy Hawai’i Coalition, focused on educating children about protecting Hawaii’s environment. An advocate for environmental policy, Tulsi was elected to the Hawai‘i State Legislature in 2002 when she was just 21 years old, becoming the youngest person ever elected in the state. A year later, she joined the Hawai‘i Army National Guard to serve Hawai‘i and our country. In 2004, Tulsi volunteered to deploy with her fellow soldiers, becoming the first state official to voluntarily step down from public office to serve in a war zone.



Tulsi served two tours of duty in the Middle East, and she continues her service in the Army National Guard as a Military Police Major. In between her two tours, Tulsi served in the U.S. Senate as a legislative aide to Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), where she advised him on energy independence, homeland security, the environment, and veteran issues.



In 2010, Tulsi was elected to the Honolulu City Council, serving as Chair of the Safety, Economic Development, and Government Affairs Committee and Vice Chair of the Budget Committee. Tulsi was elected in 2012 to the United States House of Representatives, serving Hawaii’s 2nd District. She is one of the first two female combat veterans to ever serve in the U.S. Congress, and also its first and only Hindu member. Days after being sworn in to her first term in Congress, Tulsi was selected to serve as vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee.



Now in her second term in Congress, Tulsi brings with her a broad range of real world experience, a storehouse of personal strength, and tested leadership as she represents the people of Hawai’i and our nation in Congress. As she works on the challenges that face our country, she remains focused on bringing her pragmatic approach to working in a collaborative, bipartisan fashion to find real solutions that best serve the people. Tulsi serves on the House Armed Services Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she is a strong advocate for veterans, our service members, and making smart strategic decisions that best secure our nation. Tulsi is working every day to make sure we have a sustainable economy that works for all families, with access to affordable health care, good jobs, and a quality education.