Douglas Kmiec eyeing US vice president candidature

Douglas Kmiec, the former U.S. ambassador to Malta, has announced that he is seeking a vice presidency role on Hillary Clinton's ticket.  

The former diplomat also said that he will run as an independent in the 26th Congressional District race in California.

Writing on his facebook wall, Kmiec said: "After a lifetime of supporting Democratic and Republican candidates, I am taking up the challenges that confront our nation directly. Specifically, and some will no doubt say, quixotically, I am pursuing the vice presidency of United States, but if all goes well that possibility Will turn on the judgment of Pres. Hillary Clinton."

The conservative scholar and author, who made waves in 2008 when the longtime Republican backed Barack Obama for the US presidency, made a point to say he would support Hillary Clinton for president in 2016.

Kmiec, a staunch Catholic, drew inspiration from Pope Francis and said that he was "just looking for a spot to do good in my last years while I still have energy and excitement of the ideas of social justice especially as they are now so well articulated by Pope Francis." 

"I suspect that if I emulate with sincerity the holy father's sense of joy and humility possibilities of helping Mrs. Clinton, my former boss of State Department, will become readily apparent. If not, however there is much to do in particular, I am presently seeking a seat in Congress from the California 26th Congressional District." 

From 2009 to 2011, during Clinton's tenure as secretary of state, Kmiec served as ambassador to Malta. On her part, Clinton is widely thought to be the leading candidate in the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. The former First Lady who lost out to Obama in the Democratic primaries in 2007, is one of the frontrunners to succeed the current President who cannot run for office having been elected President twice.

In recent polls, Clinton has pulled sharply ahead of Republican hopeful and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in a hypothetical match between the two potential presidential candidates, leading by 13 percentage points.  

Democratic and Republican vice president candidates are formally selected by each party's quadrennial nominating convention, following the selection of the party's presidential candidates. In recent years it became customary for the presidential candidates to select a preferred running mate, who is then nominated and accepted by the convention.

With the presidential nomination usually being a foregone conclusion as the result of the primaries, the selection of a vice presidential candidate is often based on crude political calculations. The nominations are normally announced prior to confirmation of the presidential candidates by the party conventions and at times before the beginning of the convention itself.