Imagine if Hillary just turned to this random woman and was like YOU! You are to be my Vice President. Guards, seize her.
Imagine if Hillary just turned to this random woman and was like "YOU! You are to be my Vice President. Guards, seize her." Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com

Now I don't know Hillary Clinton personally, but I get the impression that she's a lady who knows how to call a bluff. And it would be the thrill of a lifetime to see her call this one: apparently financial-industry assholes are trying to hold their donations as ransom to stop Clinton from picking Elizabeth Warren as VP.

In other words, Wall Street's telling Hillary that they'd rather risk having President Donald Trump than Vice President Elizabeth Warren. Do they really mean that? Probably not — they've already heaped millions upon millions of dollars on Hillary, and throwing your support behind the ultra-volatile Donald Trump isn't exactly a safe gamble. (Hey, Wall Street? Have you seen today's headlines: "Donald Trump presidency would wreck economy, Moody's analysis concludes.")

Not to mention, this Orlesian ball of Wall Street's assumes that Warren is even under consideration. She seems to be doing just fine in Congress, so why would she want to jump over to the White House? And more importantly, Warren's such a star these days that voters might start to wish she was the nominee instead of Hillary. Nobody wins in that scenario.


It's anyone's guess who the Clinton campaign is actually vetting these days. There's a great NYT article that basically boils it down to "chemistry," a.k.a. "who does Hillary get along with?" That means that predicting the nominee requires reading ineffable signs of body language and vocal tone. (The article notes that on one occasion, when she hugged Corey Booker, she did so with a "much less effusive embrace" than she had given to Bon Jovi, so I guess that means Bon Jovi's leading the pack.)

As far as we know, the campaign has tennish top candidates for VP, and top officials are meeting with them this week in what sounds like a service offered by a very expensive matchmaking company. According to insiders, Hillary wants someone who's as wonky on policy as she is, and also someone whose spouse will get along with Bill. (Careful what you wish for.)

Does Warren fit those criteria? Well, on financial policy, sure — she's a genius about the economy. She's already forced some big banks to break up into smaller chunks, and they hate her consumer protection initiatives. But when's the last time you heard Warren make an insightful comment on Middle East peace talks, or on federal emissions standards, or on education reform? I'm not saying she doesn't have a stance on those issues, just that they're not her area of expertise. If Hillary wants to have an in-depth conversation about Palestine, I'm not sure Elizabeth would be the first one she texts.

Nevertheless, bankers have begun issuing threats of withholding cash from Clinton if Warren joins the ticket. "Warren would be a nightmare to try and manage," one anonymous banker told Politico. Well, yeah, obviously, that's the point; of course we want a candidate who can't be "managed" by Wall Street. It's rather telling that they haven't made the same complaint about Hillary.