Dive Brief:
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is one of two leading candidates who have emerged from a longer list of potential vice-presidential running mates for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, according to sources aware of her decision.
- Vilsack has a long-standing personal friendship with Clinton, but the other leading candidate, Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-VA), is named most often by Democrats as the favorite and front-runner for the position.
- Clinton is likely to announce her decision on Friday or Saturday, according to sources familiar with her plan.
Dive Insight:
This wouldn't be Vilsack's first exposure to the upper echelons of the executive branch. In addition to his cabinet seat in President Obama's administration, Vilsack was also a running mate contender for then-Sen. John F. Kerry in the 2004 election, and Vilsack was briefly a presidential candidate himself in 2008.
As a running mate, Vilsack could also deliver Iowa, a key swing state, to Clinton, as Vilsack previously served in various roles in local government before being a well-liked governer of the state.
Food industry insiders say that Vilsack has longstanding ties to agriculture policy and has been enthusiastic about issues like nutrition, climate change, and farming. His character and past could be helpful in bringing these and other issues dealing with food and agriculture to the forefront. However, some say Vilsack hasn't done enough to ensure food safety, either as governnor of Iowa or secretary of Agriculture.
It is also unclear is how food and agriculture issues could play out in Vilsack's attachment to Clinton's presidential campaign. Congress recently passed a national mandatory GMO labeling standard that currently awaits Obama's signature. If passed, it would be up to the USDA to decide on the specifics of the law and its requirements, including the language and a symbol manufacturers could use to indicate GMO ingredients on product packaging.
Sources close to Clinton said that political considerations will come second, if at all, in her running mate decision, according to The Washington Post. Instead, the decision is more likely to come down to a "fitness test" of responsibility and ability to serve as president in addition to personal considerations about a person who would serve alongside her for at least four years.
In that case, Vilsack may have an edge. Before Clinton and Vilsack served in President Obama's cabinet together, they had a long personal relationship that dates back decades.