Billionaire Mark Cuban Would Consider Running As Hillary Clinton’s Veep
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has said he would consider being Hillary Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 presidential election – under one condition.
The businessman and Dallas Mavericks owner says in order for that to happen the former Secretary of State would have to shift some of her views further to the center. In an interview scheduled to air this Sunday on Meet the Press, Chuck Todd posed the question of whether or not Cuban would give a Clinton-Cuban ticket serious thought.
“You joke that you would love to be Clinton’s running mate, as long as you were allowed to throw bombs at Trump. If she really did come to you, would you listen?” Todd asks Cuban.
“Absolutely,” Cuban responds. “But the key would be that she’d have to go more to center. I like the fact that Senator Clinton has thought-out proposals. That’s a good thing because at least we get to see exactly where she stands.”
Interestingly, Mark Cuban’s name has been tossed around as a possible running mate for candidates on both sides of the political aisle. Republicans scrambling to beat Hillary Clinton and desperate to prevent a Trump presidency have spent a fair amount of time angling for a third-party candidate. Mark Cuban was reportedly on the short list along with political heavy hitters like Condoleezza Rice and John Kasich.
According to Cuban, those pursuing him for a potential third-party bid believed he had the personality and the substance to give Trump a run for his money. Cuban turned down the offers, citing the fact that there was not enough time to launch a competitive campaign. Additionally, the possibility of a third-party candidate winning the presidency is widely believed to be highly unlikely, making it difficult to secure wealthy donors.
It may seem odd to some observers for Cuban to go from the potential savior of #NeverTrump Republicans to possible running mate for their foe, Hillary Clinton, but based on his political leanings, it’s unsurprising. Cuban is an independent whose politics are far from partisan. He has described himself as a libertarian who isn’t as libertarian as he’d like to be when it comes to government involvement.
Cuban is coy about discussing abortion, but he maintains that it isn’t the government’s place to dictate personal morality. He is for legalizing marijuana. He likes Obamacare in principle, and he thinks equal pay shouldn’t be legislated. Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead is one of Cuban’s favourite books, and he thinks there should be a limit on federal government guarantees of student loans.
It is Mark Cuban’s views regarding the economy that he says he and Clinton would need to get on the same page about in order to work together.
“[Bernie Sanders] has dragged her a little bit too far to the left,” Cuban explained to Todd. “Things like college tuition and, you know, other business elements that really, I think, could hurt the economy. If she’s willing to listen, if she’s willing to, you know, hear other sides of things, then I’m wide open to discussing it.”
While Sanders and his supporters are determined to stay in the race until the end, the Vermont senator is trailing badly in delegates. In fact, Hillary Clinton declared herself the Democratic nominee on Thursday. In an interview with CNN, the former Secretary of State declared, “I will be the nominee for my party … There is no way that I won’t be.”
While Vice President of the United States would be an impressive addition to Mark Cuban’s resume, chances are Clinton will go a different route when deciding whom to put on her ticket. Most notably, Clinton has yet to rule out Bernie Sanders as a potential running mate. While Sanders’ chances of cinching the nomination are growing slimmer by the day, he has managed to rally a passionate portion of the population, and his inclusion on Clinton’s ticket could help mend a fractured Democratic party before the general election.
[Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images]
