Meet the 10 people who could be Hillary Clinton's running mate

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When Hillary Clinton announces her running mate this week, it will put to rest months of speculation over which direction Clinton wants to take the ticket: the left, the center, somewhere more aggressive, or somewhere more diverse.

The presumptive Democratic nominee is widely expected to roll out her vice presidential pick after Donald Trump announced his selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence last weekend.

While several top Republicans had effectively taken themselves out of the running to be Trump's VP, any of Clinton's speculated-about top choices have publicly expressed openness — even interest — in running on the ticket.

According to multiple reports, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Tim Kaine, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, and former Adm. James Stavridis are among the candidates being seriously vetted for the job.

Some — like Castro and Kaine — have long been expected to be among the finalists for the job. Others, like Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Warren, have emerged more recently as strong choices in an unusual election cycle.

For many pundits, Clinton has a choice between picks that some consider safe yet uninspiring, and so-called attack dogs that rile up the progressive base but could alienate potential independents and stray from the campaign's message.

While traditional orthodoxy asserts that the vice presidential pick has little effect on the ticket, recent studies suggest that a pick could help bolster or sink a candidate's chances in key states — a dynamic that the Clinton campaign no doubt has in mind.

Here are the 10 people most likely to be Hillary Clinton's running mate.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

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Before the 2016 Democratic primary campaign began in earnest, many primary voters were interested in Warren as a potential presidential candidate.

Now, some of the same voters are clamoring for Clinton to pick her as a running mate.

Warren's connection with the Democratic primary base is virtually unmatched in the 2016 field. Polls have shown that Warren would generate the most enthusiasm for the ticket among Democratic Party voters.

And even before she endorsed Clinton in June, Warren was already one of the most vocal and aggressive Trump critics on the Democratic side, even obtaining an inflammatory nickname from the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

"You know, I could do this all day," Warren said after ripping into Trump during a recent campaign event in Ohio.

Still, skeptics say that she's too far to the left for many voters in a general election. And Massachusetts law mandates that the governor appoints a replacement, meaning Republican Gov. Charlie Baker would likely choose a fellow Republican to replace Warren until a special election could be held.

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia

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Kaine is undoubtedly one of the most politically experienced people under consideration.

Before serving as a Virginia senator, Kaine was the state's governor, the mayor of Richmond, and the chair of the Democratic National Committee. Kaine's steady Democratic leadership has endeared him to many in the party who believe Clinton should select a tested running mate with a successful career in politics in a key battleground state.

But some liberal critics assert that he's boring and not progressive enough, particularly on trade issues — though some criticisms of Kaine appear more based in his ties to party leadership rather than actual policy issues.

Kaine himself is willing to concede to at least one of those charges.

"They're true. I am boring. But boring is the fastest-growing demographic in this country," Kaine said during a June appearance on "Meet The Press."

Julián Castro, secretary of Housing and Urban Development

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Castro and his twin brother, Rep. Joaquín Castro, have been rising stars in the Democratic Party for years.

Then the San Antonio mayor, Julián Castro delivered a fiery keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention that reminded many observers of Barack Obama's 2004 address as a Senate candidate.

Castro was appointed to run HUD in 2014, becoming the youngest member of President Obama's cabinet. His tenure there has been defined by his advocacy for a few key policies, which some observers argue helps make up for his relative lack of the in-depth policy knowledge that typifies many lifelong department officials.

Some see drawbacks if the secretary were to join the ticket, however.

While potentially an exciting choice to some Hispanic voters and activists, Castro doesn't have decades of Hispanic media experience, unlike Rep. Xavier Becerra, or have the same level of Spanish-language fluency as Perez or Kaine.

Last month, Castro revised a HUD program aimed at lowering foreclosures that sold mortgages from struggling homeowners to hedge funds rather than selling them to nonprofit groups. Some progressive groups pointed to the program as a giveaway to the financial industry and have used the issue to gin up opposition to Castro as Clinton's running mate.

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