Could Wisconsin’s own Democratic U.S. Senator become the next vice president of the United States? It’s not out of the question, according to the senator herself.
As the race continues for Democratic presidential candidates to gain support for their bid to unseat incumbent Republican Donald Trump, the public hasn’t had as much of a discussion on who their running mate will be.
When asked by WTMJ’s Steve Scaffidi if a possible No. 2 slot on a Democratic ticket could be in play, Senator Tammy Baldwin said she’s open right now to the option.
“I haven’t ruled it out,” she said to Steve with a warm laugh on Friday.
Their discussion on WTMJ Friday somewhat dived into the race for President, one in which – like Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett – she is not committing to endorsing a candidate due to her host role at the 2020 Democratic National Convention here in Milwaukee.
“I have a special role as the Democratic U.S. Senator from Wisconsin hosting the convention, making sure as best I can to make it a fabulous event for our nominee – should we have that nominee by that time,” said Baldwin, who has made presidential endorsements in the past.
“I want to be able to tell all the finalists in the Democratic nomination that this is what I learned how to win Wisconsin in the 2018 (Senate) race…(issues are) what we need to focus on.”
Those issues include the cost of prescription drugs, and Baldwin has supported and pushed legislation to attempt to drop that cost including the current H.R. 3, the “Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act” – legislation that isn’t moving forward.
“A number of things sitting on (Republican Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell’s desk that could be scheduled in the Senate,” said Senator Baldwin.
The move stands in contrasts to President Trump who has had an apparent “openness to taking action that would produce results, but we haven’t seen (it),” in Senator Baldwin’s words.
“How powerful the pharmaceutical companies are in blocking progress,” she adds.
“The people who are in charge of scheduling for a vote have kept it from getting one. That is where I think we should all be absolutely outraged.”
The Senator is also critical of what she calls numerous undelivered promises by the President.
“We’re seeing some broken promises in terms of the President’s budget,” said Senator Baldwin.
“When he ran, he said ‘I will not touch Social Security.’ He repeated them off. We see a budget Monday that came out from the President…we see the budget he produces that not only puts them on the table, but has nearly a trillion dollar cut to Medicaid and a half-trillion dollar cut to Medicare (both over 10 years).”
Check back for a full podcast of Steve’s interview with Senator Baldwin later today in this story.
