I haven't read the book yet b/c it just released yesterday. But what I heard described by outlets is that she went through the same process of picking a VP candidate as every other candidate in history has...picking people from states they need to win or from demographics they need to vote for them.
I don't know about trains, but if you asked me about a random person - killing school children or attacking a politicians husband with a hammer or murdering a dem, her husband & dog, I would say white male.
I had the exact experience as your mother in the mid-70's. Catholic school, rural area, 7th grade. But the guns in question were totally different than what is in homes today.
These older Republicans make me sick. They could have helped stop the cruelty and ineptitude along the way. But they went along with it. And then when they retire, they pretend that it's so upsetting to them.