Hillary’s Pocahontas Lovefest

Hillary Clinton took her potential veep pick for a test drive on Monday, campaigning with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The two tag-teamed as they attacked Donald Trump and told a slew of lies as sycophantic fans cheered. As Austin Powers would say, pretty standard.

The two elderly white women, clad in their party’s signature blue — and Warren copying Clinton with a pantsuit — lavished praise upon each other as they joined together in an attempt to unify the Party behind Clinton and coax Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ supporters to flock to her. Because Warren is seen as a potential vice presidential pick for Clinton, the two’s joint appearance capitalized on that tension and caused further speculation to fly.

“You just saw why she is so terrific, so formidable. Because she tells it like it is,” Clinton said. “I have to say, I do just love how she gets under Donald Trump’s skin.”

“We’re all here today because we’re with her, and we’re gonna work our hearts out to make Hillary Clinton the next president of the United States,” Warren told the crowd gathered in Cincinnati as she introduced Clinton.

For her part, Clinton teased the political relationship between them as she heaped some high praise on the progressive senator. “You just saw why she is so terrific, so formidable. Because she tells it like it is,” Clinton said. “I have to say, I do just love how she gets under Donald Trump’s skin.”

And sure enough, during the rally, Warren lambasted the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in fiery fashion as the crowd cheered and jeered.

“Now, Donald Trump says he’ll make America great again … It’s stamped on the front of his goofy hats. You want to see goofy? Look at him in that hat!” Warren said, before adding that Trump is “a small, insecure money grubber” that “will crush you into the dirt to get whatever he wants.”

There’s no doubt about it — whether or not Warren is vetted and chosen as Clinton’s VP, she certainly bashes Trump bluntly in a very Trumpian fashion that Clinton is afraid to replicate on her own.

Trump seemed to predict this abuse earlier on in the day when he tweeted, “Crooked Hillary is wheeling out one of the least productive senators in the U.S. Senate, goofy Elizabeth Warren, who lied on heritage.”

Trump was, of course, referring to the controversy that came to light in 2012 when Warren was discovered to have registered as a Native American minority in the Association of American Law Schools directories. Because — of course — her great-great-great grandmother’s alleged Cherokee heritage qualifies Warren as a minority.

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Despite the vicious attacks levied against Trump and their joint support for the Democratic spiel, the major issues underlying the rally remained unanswered. How seriously is Clinton considering Warren as her VP? And if Warren isn’t at the top of the list, then what exactly did she hope to gain by appearing alongside the Massachusetts senator?

Warren adds a fiery passion and bluntness to Clinton’s attacks against Trump that stand in stark contrast with another VP favorite, the more moderate and self-described “boring” Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine. And now that Sanders seems to be falling to the wayside as the former first lady steps into the role of presumptive nominee, Clinton is faced with the dilemma of how she can best appeal to Sanders’ younger, socialist-leaning supporters — a base she desperately needs to win the general election. Warren, who is often viewed as one of the left’s most progressive advocates, certainly aids Clinton in her appeal to Sanders’ base. But once Sanders receives his indisputable defeat at the Democratic National Convention in July, will Clinton dump Warren as well?

The Huffington Post editor Jess Coleman summarized many of these thoughts in four tweets issued after the Cincinnati rally.

“Short thought on Warren as VP: People will say the rally today proved she would be an enormously valuable VP pick. But to me, it proved she doesn’t need to be VP in order for Clinton to reap the benefits of her support (authenticity, energy, etc.),” Coleman tweeted. “Fact is, Warren still has fallbacks [sic], all of which will be more difficult to exploit on Trump’s side if she’s not VP and just a supporter. In short, by keeping Warren on board but not as VP, Clinton can get all the benefits while still avoiding the pitfalls. It’s a win win.”