John Edwards, if he was ever in the running as Barack Obama's running mate, probably isn't now. There's some good reasons in this NYT blog.
But who is? Or should be? Not just for Obama, but Republican John McCain.
On the Republican side, two Carolinians -- Sen. Richard Burr of Winston-Salem and S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford -- have been mentioned. So have Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Democrats mentioned include a pair of women governors: Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Janet Napolitano of Arizona. And there's always senators like Evan Bayh of Indiana or Joe Biden of Delaware.
Who do you think the candidates should choose?
Friday, June 06, 2008
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5 comments:
Obama's choice shouldn't be difficult. The more leftist his VP choice, the more likely he will lose in November.
I like Governor Palin of Alaska for McCain's VP. She is more conservative than he is, and she's dynamic and rock-steady.
Obama's choice is going to be Bill Richardson.
1) He has "moderate" street cred, something a politician as extreme as Obama desperately needs.
2) Richardson has experience in both state and federal government, thus lending gravitas to a guy whose biggest accomplishment is beating Alan Keyes (and that only with the aid of a judge illegally unsealing his previous opponent's divorce proceedings).
2a) Richardson has executive experience, something Obama is woefully lacking.
3) Richardson is Hispanic, helping to tie in that constituency that Obama might otherwise lose (possibly badly).
4) Richardson stabbed Clinton in the back, something that will appeal to BO's hardcore supporters and neutralize their disappointment that he didn't disinter the corpse of Stalin to be his running mate.
As far as McCain, his smartest choice would be Sanford. Jindal would be next, but if I'm Jindal, I stay far away. I would think it would be more difficult for Palin to canvas the US with a newborn while being governor of a non-contiguous state; she still has plenty of cleaning up in the swamp that is the Alaska GOP.
We will now see if two former adversaries in a hard-fought presidential nomination contest can come together in harmony and mutual respect and support. No, I wasn't referring to Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York for the Democrats but rather Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republicans.
If the McCain team could "let Romney be Romney" (which is usually pondered in a presidential campaign rather than a vice presidential bid), then the Republicans could have a well-fortified and resilient ticket in McCain and Romney, with Romney providing some much needed oratorical spark to match up with the brilliant speaking style of Barack Obama.
Meanwhile, in this writer-musician's unscientific sampling of "in-the-trenches" Democratic sentiment here in the Raleigh-Durham region of the state, I have seen very little indication of appreciation or respect on the part of Obama activists for what Hillary Clinton accomplished in her campaign and how unselfishlessly she is trying to move her core supporters into the Obama camp to help elect him President.
The candidate himself, Barack Obama, has been most gracious and cordial to Sen. Clinton as she concludes her own extended campaign, and this speaks well for the senator from Illinois. But there are troubling early indicators that Obama's dominating field organizers "do not get it" as far as an extraordinary phase of the contemporary women's equality movement is concerned.
Here's hoping Hillary Clinton will accept a vice presidential nomination only if pressed by the Obama team to do so and that she will continue her leadership initiatives in the U.S. Senate and not try to be the guest at a party whose hosts honestly wish she had not come to the dance. Let the Obama campaign satisfy its own closely held preferences and expectations in regard to the vice presidency and choose someone who not only will support Sen. Obama for President but whom Obama's backers will fully support for the important position of Vice President as it has evolved in American politics in recent decades.
So the best choices for the second spot on the Democratic Party ticket at this point would seem to be Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania or perhaps Caroline Kennedy of New York.
McCain's VP pick should be the former Rep. from Oklahoma, J.C. Watts.
(1.) That would completely the deflate the Obama being black balloon.
(2.) An Oklahoman would dent the Midwest thunder of Obama.
(3.) Watts is an Evangelical.
(4.) Watts is a much younger man than McCain.
(5.) Watts is currently a businessman.
So, I don't actually believe this will have effect.
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