Clinton Veep Stakes Ends In Tampa

WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton will announce her running mate on Friday at an event in Tampa at the Florida State Fairgrounds. Clinton is battling Donald Trump for the Sunshine and it will come down to winning the Interstate 4 corridor, she will also head to Orlando, then on to South Florida to end a busy day.

Then she and her new veep will stay in the state on Saturday July 23, Clinton will campaign at a rally in the Palm Beach and Miami.

Clinton’s announcement in Tampa has as you might expect many immediate speculation that the running mate might be someone who plays particularly well with the state’s diverse demographic. Those who might fit the bill are Julian Castro and Tom Perez, both Hispanics, or Tim Kaine, who speaks fluent Spanish.

However, the location doesn’t necessarily preclude a pick such as Elizabeth Warren, who despite being from the Northeast, would play well with progressives and young voters in nearly any state, including Florida.

The duo of Clinton-Warren took their show on the road in early June in Ohio. The choice of Florida could have more to do with its status as a key swing state, and the fact that she hasn’t held a major public event there in a while. But speculation as to the identity of the pick will continue unabated until the date of the event.

Since the Republican National Convention will grab most of the headlines each day from Monday through Thursday. Trump on Thursday will give his acceptance speech to a national audience in the biggest address of his life.

Clinton hopes to steal the headlines back in Tampa with her vice presidential choice. The goal is to blunt his post-convention bump.