Massachusetts senator is seen by many as the most plausible selection to bring the progressive voters who backed Bernie Sanders’ bid into the Clinton camp

Hillary Clinton hosted Senator Elizabeth Warren at her Washington home on Friday, fuelling speculation that the pair could join forces to form an all-female ticket in the presidential election.



The senator from Massachusetts arrived at Clinton’s house in an affluent, tree-lined suburb near Observatory Circle just before 10.40am and left about an hour later without taking questions from the media.

The women have had several conversations over the past month, the Washington Post reported.

Warren, 66, endorsed Clinton on Thursday night and, asked by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow if she felt confident she could be commander-in-chief if she became vice-president and had to assume the top job, replied: “Yes, I do.”

There is growing support within the Democratic party for Clinton to pick Warren, dubbed the “north star” of progressives with the sort of leftwing credentials that could win over disaffected supporters of Bernie Sanders and unify the party.

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“Every progressive in America is hoping that the conversation in Secretary Clinton’s house is all about how Elizabeth Warren would be a wonderful vice-president of the United States,” Jeff Merkley, the only US senator to endorse Sanders and now a Clinton supporter, told CNN. “It ties in so much to Bernie Sanders’ campaign. In his campaign, he fought for big ideas to take on big challenges.”

He added: “I’m ready to say that Elizabeth Warren would make a great vice-president.”

Bob Casey, a senator from Pennsylvania, tweeted: “I’ve served w/ her & know she’s absolutely qualified to be potus.”

Clinton wrapped up the nomination earlier this week after winning primaries in key states including California. On Thursday she was formally endorsed by Barack Obama, vice-president Joe Biden and Warren, who having kept her powder dry up until then made all the more impact. She had been the only holdout among Democratic women in the Senate.

In the meantime Warren has made herself an effective tip of the spear against Donald Trump, clashing with him on Twitter and, in a speech on Thursday night, denouncing him as “a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud who … serves no one but himself”.

She said his attacks on Gonzalo Curiel, the federal judge presiding over the Trump University suit, are “exactly what you would expect from somebody who is a thin-skinned racist bully”.

Trump tweeted in response: “Goofy Elizabeth Warren, one of the least productive U.S. Senators, has a nasty mouth. Hope she is V.P. choice.”

Bob Shrum, a Democratic strategist who worked on the Al Gore and John Kerry campaigns, said Warren would bring four key strengths as a running mate: “She would flatten Trump every day; she would be a fierce and effective defender of Hillary Clinton; she would win the vice-presidential debate, which can be important; and unusually she appeals to the progressive wing of the party but would also appeal to white, blue-collar voters as standing for economic fairness.”

He added: “I think there is a very strong case to be made for Elizabeth Warren as not the safe pick but a very confident pick. It would energise the party and it would drive Donald Trump crazy. I don’t know why he fights with her.”

A likely objection to Warren in some quarters is her gender and fears that conservative voters would be unwilling to make the leap of voting for not one but two women. A white male might be seen as a more safe and pragmatic choice, just as Biden was for Obama – especially against Trump, who polls well among white men.

But Shrum disagrees. “I feel the notion that you can’t have two women on the ticket is absurd. For most of 230 years we’ve had two two men on the ticket. Most of the history of this country is about pushing down barriers. I don’t think anyone who’d vote against two women is going to vote for one woman; sexism is not selective.”

Obama’s carefully timed endorsement on Thursday was part of a strategy to heal divisions in the Democratic party after a sometimes bruising primary contest. It appears that Sanders, who met the president at the White House on Thursday, is being allowed to wind down in his own time.

The Vermont senator has said he will remain in the race through the final primary contest in Washington DC next week but would work with Clinton to defeat Trump. He and Warren have common ground on issues such as curbing Wall Street excesses, seen as a potential weakness for Clinton, who has come under fire for her highly paid speeches to Goldman Sachs.

Warren, who taught constitutional law at Harvard, told MSNBC that the Sanders campaign had been “powerfully important”, adding: “He ran a campaign from the heart, and he ran a campaign where he took these issues and really thrust them into the spotlight – issues that are near and dear to my heart – and he brought millions of people into the democratic process.”

But, Warren said, “Hillary Clinton won. And she won because she’s a fighter, she’s out there, she’s tough. And I think this is what we need.”

Her willingness to stand toe to toe with Trump is likely to excite Democrats. In one tweet she wrote: “Your policies are dangerous. Your words are reckless. Your record is embarrassing. And your free ride is over.”

Trump has responded by calling Warren “the Indian” and “Pocahontas” because of her disputed Cherokee heritage.

It is not clear when Clinton will announce her running mate. Other contenders include Virginia senator Tim Kaine; Julián Castro, the secretary of housing and urban development; Tom Perez, the labor secretary; and senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Cory Booker of New Jersey.

Clinton told the Politico website: “I have the highest regard for Senator Warren. I think she is an incredible public servant, eminently qualified for any role. I look forward to working with her on behalf of not only the campaign and her very effective critique of Trump, but also on the issues that she and I both care about.”