1. Hillary Clinton. Good for party unity, but, as Dr.S. pointed out, to the extent that Obama voters think she's polarizing, she brings all the Clinton negatives. I also think she's way too proud to do it. She's already lived in the White House. No desire to go up to the Naval Observatory.
2. Bill Richardson. Good experience. Half-Latino, half-white. May be able to "deliver" New Mexico. Those 5 EV will be crucial to a Democratic win in the Fall.
3. Sherrod Brown. A first-term Senator from Ohio, but long experience in the House. Also a uniter in the sense that he's part of the Old Party Left (basically, what is now the Clinton wing, which is odd if you think about where Bill started). Could he deliver Ohio? If so, that would be a big plus. Wife is cool too.
4. Kathleen Sebelius (see prior post).
5. Wesley Clark. The General could stare down McCain. My fave du jour. Helps with the older, white voters. Could be a great boon, although he may be too loyal to Clinton to do it. I've heard that he's out campaigning with her.
6. Janet Napolitano. Sure, Arizona governor would be good normally, but McCain will take Arizona. Also, no foreign policy experience.
7. Bill Ritter. First-term Democratic governor of Colorado. Can he deliver that all-important swing state? Was chief prosecutor (D.A.) for Denver for the past 12 years. Prior to that, spent three years in Zambia (1987-1990) with his wife running a food distribution and nutrition center. Unfortunately, he did that as a Roman Catholic missionary, and is very, very pro-life.
8. Joe Biden. Lots of great foreign policy experience. Can talk Iraq to McCain and get the better of him. Has a tendency to gabble on and say weird things, though. Also... another Senator?
9. Chris Dodd. Liberal Democrat from Connecticut. Do we need one on the ticket? Maybe if its versus McCain-Lieberman. Dems need to carry Connecticut.
10. Jennifer Granholm. Governor of Michigan. Not very popular. Sigh.
11. Dick Gephardt. Nah.
12. Al Gore. Nope.
13. Tom Vilsack. Could he carry Iowa? RBR would probably say "no."
14. John Edwards. Won't do it. Best for Attorney General.
15. Jerry Brown. Nah.
16. Tim Kaine. Democratic Governor of Virginia. Could Dems take VA this year?
17. Jim Webb (See Tim Kaine, but way more military experience).
18. Daniel Akaka, junior senator from Hawaii. Obama/Akaka. Has a ring to it. Hakuna matata?
19. Mary Landrieu (Senator from Louisiana). Katrina, not her friend.
20. Eric Shinseki (the "I told you so" ticket).
Sunday, March 02, 2008
The Short List (Who would be Obama's VP?)
Posted by The Law Talking Guy at 9:03 PM
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12 comments:
Granholm from Michigan can't be VP because she can't be president. I believe the requirements are the same - i.e. you have to be born in the US (or in McCain's case, born in a US protectorate).
Vilsack would lose votes in Iowa. He's quite unpopular now.
Sherrod Brown does well in Ohio but would probably not be able to get more votes than Obama would already get.
Why not take Clinton off the list since you basically came to the conclusion it will not happen. Besides, she would need him more than he needs her. I just don't see a Obama/Hillary or vice versa ticket ever taking place.
1. Hillary Clinton. I think Hillary as Prez. and Obama as VP makes perfect sense. The reverse is harder to imagine--but I am starting to believe it is more reasonable.
2/8/9/14. Richardson/Biden/Dodd/Edwards. As I said in the earlier post, I think Obama should choose a VP to accentuate the newness and hopefulness of his candidacy, not water it down by trying to "balance" it with some dull insider. Clinton is mixed on this test but does not fail it entirely, since a woman is also groundbreaking. Yet if Obama does not ask Hillary, it would seem a slap in the face to ask Richardson, Biden, Edwards, or any of the other former candidates who did not do as well. I would rule them all out.
3. Not a bad choice. But another first-term Senator could be a minus.
4. Although I like Sebelius, it occurs to me that choosing a woman other than Hillary might be seen as a slap in the face. Might be, might not. People might feel Hillary has already had to deal with "the other woman" too much.
5. Wesley Clark. He's a poor choice because he is not particularly likable. He would work OK as VP for Hillary (if Obama were not so much the better option) because likability is not exactly critical for the Hillary ticket.
6. Janet Napolitano. I agree with LTG. McCain (also from AZ, but way more popular) means Napolitano cannot even be expected to deliver her home state. Originally I'd thought of her, but had not realized the McCain problem. And then there's also the potential problem of nominating a woman who is not Hillary. Cross her off the list.
7. Ritter. I put him up there with Sherrod Brown. In fact, I given him a nudge above since he is a governor, and not another Senator noob. Another first-termer though... Isn't there anyone with experience we can put on the ticket?
10. Granholm. RbR dealt with this one.
11/12/15. I agree with LTG's "nahs" on these.
13. Vilsack. RbR dealt with this one. He's also a former candidate, but no one remembers, so that's not an issue.
16. Tim Kaine. I put him up with Brown and Ritter. But again he is another first-termer. And he's a lousy speaker.
17. Jim Webb. (see previous post.) He is similar to Sherrod Brown, Bill Ritter, and Tim Kaine in terms of political experience--but he also has the military thing. He would be my first choice.
18. Akaka. This is a joke, of course.
19. Yikes, no.
20. He's too smart to want the job. Not 100% sure of his eligibility, as he was born in the territory of Hawaii, before it was a state.
TO LTG's excellent list, I'd like to add a few more names.
A. Bill Nelson. Senator from Florida, long experience. Might put the state in the Dem's column. Also he's an astronaut--which should go over well with the Obama college crowd.
B. Brad Henry. Governor of Oklahoma--red state Dem. Could appeal to independents, cutting into McCain's support. A two-termer, which helps.
SO my SHORTER list, in descending order, is:
1. Jim Webb
2. Bill Nelson
3. Bill Ritter
4. Sherrod Brown
5. Brad Henry
6. Tim Kaine
FYI: The Goldwater campaign litigated the issue of eligibility for territory-born presidents, and the courts held that being born in AZ before it became a state was not disabling.
I have always understood the "natural born citizen" rule to mean simply anyone for whom citizenship is a birthright. That means anyone born of US parents, wherever, according to US law. I doubt courts would hold differently.
Interesting about the territory rule--good to know.
Brad Henry could be OK.
What about Buck Henry?
Who is Buck Henry? Did you mean Brad Henry, the guy we were just talking about? (See above). He's the Governor of Oklahoma.
No, I mean Buck Henry. He was on SNL as a frequent guest back in the first few seasons. Before that he was the co-creator (with Mel Brooks) of Get Smart and was a writer for Sid Caesar.
Here is a link to his wiki site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Henry
Forgive my ignorance. Is Buck Henry a politician now, or were you just making a joke?
My short list is very short.
Colin Powell. He brings in both Republican's and those looking for more experience. He makes McCain's accomplishments look dull, he an expert on foreign policy and he would've made a great president had he been interested in the position.
Barbara Boxer.
She is extremely popular and brings the women and jewish vote back. They are extremely similar ideologically so people would believe that she supports his incentives wholeheartedly.
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