WASHINGTON (AP) – Philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates made the list. So did Apple chief executive Tim Cook. They were among nearly 40 elected officials, military leaders and corporate CEOs that Hillary Clinton’s campaign considered for vice president last spring. The list was included among hacked emails from Clinton’s campaign chairman disclosed Tuesday by WikiLeaks.
The list emailed from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta to Hillary Clinton last March included several Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tim Kaine of Virginia, who was eventually picked by Clinton.
Longtime Clinton friend and political ally Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe was on the list, and so – at the very bottom – was Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Clinton’s opponent in the hotly contested Democratic primary.
Podesta organized the list into “rough food groups” including blacks, women and Hispanics such as Obama administration Cabinet members Julian Castro of Housing and Urban Development and Labor Secretary Tom Perez.
African-Americans who made the list included Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., former Attorney General Eric Holder and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
Besides Warren, women on the list of possibilities included Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who is openly gay.
Another group of possibilities that appeared to represent “outside-the-box” options included former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Tim Cook of Apple, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, Howard Schultz of Starbucks and retired Marine Corps Gen. John Allen.