There's lots of chatter out there about who Hillary Clinton will choose as her running mate. Hillary's campaign is delving deep into vetting the contenders. The media have discussed various names. And we are doing the same. You recently had the chance to submit your own choices. Then you voted in Round 1 to narrow the list down from 35 to 20, which means it's time to vote again. Round 2, which consists of 20 names, will last a week. After this round is over, the results will determine the Top 10, with half being eliminated. [More: (Instagram) Democratic Primary Season: How Many States Did Hillary Clinton Win?] Voting for Round 2 is open from Tuesday, June 28 to Monday, July 4. Use the form below to vote--you can still vote for more than one! And feel free to share this blog post on all of your social media pages so that as many Hillary supporters as possible can participate. (Use the hashtag #HillarysVP.) I am not affiliated with Hillary Clinton or her campaign, so these polls are not being used by the campaign; this is just for us Hillary supporters to show our support and have some fun along the way.
We are just over a month away from Hillary Clinton accepting the Democratic nomination at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, which means we are really close to finding out who she will pick as her running mate. Various names have been floating around, but who do you want her to choose? Right after Hillary became the presumptive Democratic nominee, I started this contest and you had the chance to submit your choices. When all was said and done, 35 names have made the list. Now that we've got our list, it's time to start voting to narrow it down until we eventually get to just one person that we Hillary supporters believe should be her Vice President. Here's how this will work. Each round will last a week, with Round 1 consisting of the initial 35 names--and you can vote for more than one! (Don't feel like you have to limit yourself right now.) After Round 1 is over, the results will determine the Top 20. [More: (Instagram) Democratic Primary Season: How Many States Did Hillary Clinton Win?] Voting for Round 1 is open from Tuesday, June 21 to Monday, June 27. Use the form below to vote. And feel free to share this blog post on all of your social media pages so that as many Hillary supporters as possible can participate. (Use the hashtag #HillarysVP.) Keep in mind that I am not affiliated with Hillary Clinton or her campaign, so these polls are not being used by the campaign; this is just for us Hillary supporters to show our support and have some fun along the way.
The 2016 presidential primary season is officially over! Voting started on February 1, 2016, with the Iowa caucus, then moved on to the New Hampshire primary, Nevada caucus and South Carolina primary. Things really kicked into high gear when Super Tuesday came around on March 1. And the primary season ended on June 14 in Washington, DC. As each state voted, it became more and more clear that Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee. She won more votes than any 2016 candidate, Democrat or Republican. She won more states than her Democratic primary opponents. And she won a majority of both pledged and unpledged delegates. Let's take a look back, via my Hillary In 2016 Instagram, at this primary season and revisit the states and territories that Hillary won:
A photo posted by Hillary Clinton 2016 (@hillaryin2016) on
Number of States Won: 28 (+ DC) Number of Territories Won: 5 Number of Votes Won: Over 16 million Number of Pledged Delegates Won: 2,218 (CNN)* Number of Unpledged Won: 582 (CNN)* Total Number of Delegates Won: 2,800 (CNN)* (*As of 7pm on June 14)
This has been a huge week in the 2016 election. With the primary season essentially over except for the Washington, DC, primary, Hillary Clinton hit the magic number of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination on Monday, June 6, and then won a majority of all pledged delegates on Tuesday, June 7--that night, she gave her big victory speech marking this historic moment when she became the first woman to be a major party's nominee. [More: Hillary Clinton Wins the Democratic Nomination--Victory Speech] But the week was far from over. Hillary has received countless endorsements, from politicians and newspapers to unions, organizations and everyone/everything else in between. But Thursday, June 9 was by far the most exciting endorsement day yet. President Barack Obama has now endorsed Hillary Clinton for president! He did so in a three-minute video, which you can watch below:
President Obama: "I don't think there's ever been someone so qualified to hold this office. She's got the courage, the compassion and the heart to get the job done. ... I want those of you who've been with me from the beginning of this incredible journey to be the first to know that I'm with her. I am fired up."
A photo posted by Hillary Clinton 2016 (@hillaryin2016) on
This was just the beginning of what ended up being many more high-profile endorsements over the course of the day. President Obama's endorsement also went hand-in-hand with First Lady Michelle Obama's support:
What about Michelle Obama? "You certainly can interpret that video as a joint endorsement," @presssec says
Just a short time after the President's video was released, former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, one of Hillary's Democratic Primary opponents, tweeted his support:
For the future of the country, I am committing my energies to the election of Secretary Clinton as the next President. #ImWithher
[More: Who Should Hillary Clinton's Vice President Be? Submit Now!] Then while speaking at the American Constitution Society convention, Vice President Joe Biden endorsed Hillary Clinton while talking about the Supreme Court: "In my view, it'll be Hillary Clinton," with "it" referring to the next president, of course. You can watch Biden's full speech below:
Along with President Obama's, the other highly anticipated endorsement came from Senator Elizabeth Warren, who did so on The Rachel Maddow Show:
Warren: "I am ready to get in this fight and work my heart out for Hillary Clinton." #Maddow#ImWithHer
— Hillary Clinton 2016 (@HillaryIn2016) June 10, 2016
Warren: "Hillary won because she's a fighter and she's tough." #Maddow#ImWithHer
— Hillary Clinton 2016 (@HillaryIn2016) June 10, 2016
Warren: I'm going to do everything I can to help Hillary Clinton get elected. #Maddow#ImWithHer
— Hillary Clinton 2016 (@HillaryIn2016) June 10, 2016
This was a fantastic day for Hillary Clinton's campaign! There are so many respected political figures who are supporting her, and I can't wait to see all of them out on the campaign trail to help elect our next president.
Hillary Clinton has won the 2016 Democratic nomination, finishing the primary season in a very strong way. She's won the popular vote, she's won most of the pledged delegates, she's won most of the superdelegates. And even bigger than that, she made history by becoming the first female nominee of a major party. Now that the nominee has been choose, it's time to look forward to the next big step: choosing a vice president. Throughout this election, there have been countless articles and discussions over who Hillary should choose as her running mate. Lots of names have been thrown around, though only Hillary and her team know who she's considering. But that doesn't mean we can't have fun and do some speculation of our own. Last summer, I did an unofficial contest on this blog to find a campaign song for Hillary. Katy Perry's "Roar" won--that is one of the handful of songs we've heard at her rallies. So let's do another contest this summer (or at least in the first part of summer leading up to the convention). Nominees can announce their running mates any time they want, of course. In 2008, both Barack Obama and John McCain revealed their choices the weekend before their respective conventions. Mitt Romney did his earlier than that in 2012. For the purposes of this contest, I'm going to assume Hillary will make her announcement right before the Democratic National Convention, though if she does it a lot sooner, this contest will come to an end, obviously. [More: Hillary Clinton Wins the Democratic Nomination--Victory Speech] Who do you think should be Hillary's running mate? You can send in as many options as you want using the form below. And feel free to share this blog post on all of your social media pages so that as many Hillary supporters as possible can participate. (Use the hashtag #HillarysVP.) This submission period will last for a week. Because there's only so many weeks before the convention, I don't have the luxury of dragging this first leg out for too long. Once the submission period is closed, I will gather all the options into a list, and over the next several weeks, we'll all vote to narrow down the list until only one remains--the person we believe should be Hillary's running mate. Keep in mind that I am not affiliated with Hillary Clinton or her campaign, so these polls are not being used by the campaign; this is just for us Hillary supporters to show our support and have some fun along the way. So start sending in your submissions now using the form below! Remember: you can send in as many as you want.
(I reserve the right to disqualify any submissions that are obviously meant to be a joke or anything else along those lines.)
On April 12, 2015, when Hillary Clinton entered the 2016 race, I started this blog as well as an Instagram account to expand my social media presence beyond my @HillaryIn2016 Twitter page. On that day, I shared my thoughts on Hillary announcing she's running for President. As I've said before, 2008 was the first presidential election I could vote in, and I voted for Hillary in the Washington State Caucus. She did not win the nomination that year, but she proudly and enthusiastically campaigned for Barack Obama, the first African American nominee of a major party. Now another huge milestone has been reached, eight years later. On June 6, 2016, Hillary's delegate total reached the magic number needed to win the nomination. The next day, June 7, as states like New Jersey and California were voting in the final big primary night of the year (don't worry, DC, we're not forgetting you on June 14), Hillary earned a majority of all pledged delegates, putting to rest any doubt that she is in fact the nominee. History has been made. Former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton became the first woman to win the nomination of a major party. Everyone on social media, on TV and in homes around the country and the world were talking about this historic moment. I've been tweeting fast and furious about it ever since. Here are just a couple:
— Hillary Clinton 2016 (@HillaryIn2016) June 7, 2016
There have been two female major party VP candidates. Never before have we had a female nominee--until now! #ImWithHer#PrimaryDay
— Hillary Clinton 2016 (@HillaryIn2016) June 8, 2016
Before Hillary gave her victory speech, her campaign aired a beautiful video centered around this historic moment:
And on Tuesday night, June 7, eight years to the day after she ended her 2008 campaign, Hillary gave her victory speech:
To say this is a big deal is an understatement. But there's still lots of work ahead of us. We all have to do everything we can to make history again and elect Hillary (who is the best and most qualified candidate) the first female president of the United States in November. Over the coming days, weeks and months, I will continue using Twitter, Instagram and this blog to spread Hillary's message of breaking down barriers. We're all in this together.
