Obama Begins VP Hunt In Earnest
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Democrats, Hillary, VeepOn the very top of the list at this point? Jim Webb, Ted Strickland, Kathleen Sebelius, Claire McCaskill. All solid, moderate democrats from swing states.
But you want to know who’d be the boldest pick? Chuck Hagel. That would literally shatter the partisan divide in one fell swoop. The only issue there is that Hagel would have to promise to govern in a bi-partisan, left-leaning fashion if anything ever happened to Obama. And how likely would that be?
In any event, the AP has some more:
Obama has asked former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson to begin vetting potential vice presidential picks, Democratic officials said Thursday. Johnson did the same job for Democratic nominees John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984. [...]Obama’s campaign refused to talk about who was being considered, but possible options are Clinton; governors such as Arizona’s Janet Napolitano, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Tim Kaine of Virginia; foreign policy experts like former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd or Delaware Sen. Joe Biden; or other senators such as Missouri’s Claire McCaskill and Virginia’s Jim Webb.
He could look outside the party to people such as war critic and Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel or independent New York mayor Mike Bloomberg. Or he could look to one of his early prominent supporters such as former Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota or try to bring on a Clinton supporter like Indiana’s Evan Bayh.
I actually forgot about Napolitano, but she’s from Arizona and does anybody think the Dems will capture that state this year with McCain running? Not a chance. Better to go with somebody from Missouri or Kansas.
As far as Nunn, Dodd and Biden…they’re all very smart, but would probably be better for cabinet positions. They just don’t bring much life to the campaign.
Bloomberg I just don’t see at this point. To monied and if anybody would enhance charges of “elitist” for Obama, it’d be him.
Lastly, Bayh, Daschle and Kaine are pretty much all snoozers and I think they’ve hit the ceilings in their respective careers. High ceilings no doubt, but ceilings nonetheless. I mean, maybe Kaine could become a senator, but the highly talented Mark Warner will probably be occupying that seat for years to come so his chances for a more national presence are slim to none at this point.
By the way, according to one report today, Hillary wants in.
Of course she does. This juggernaut is leaving the station and she knows how well organized it had to be to beat the Clinton brand…and she’s guessing it’s going to win big.
And true, Obama could lose and then Clinton is seemingly well-positioned for 2012, but not if she keeps shooting out these poison pen letters to her constituency regarding Barack’s electability. It’s over, and everybody who’s being realistic knows it.
My hope is that the rules committee smacks her down on May 31st and she bows out as gracefully as she can once all the primaries are over. But just because she raised a lot of money and garnered a lot of votes does not mean she’s the right running mate for Obama. Not by a long shot. Let’s hope that Barack always keeps this in mind during what will be the decidedly delicate process of letting her down easy.
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Democrats, Hillary, Veep. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 am
You’re the second wonkish blogger I’ve seen float a list of suspects based on who would make some sort of electoral, strategic, or political unity sense. And that may well be what occurs, some sort of political marriage of convenience. God knows there’s precedent.
But I wonder whether Obama might instead choose someone who he feels is another good personable speaker with energy and appeal, and who he has a good rapport with. My mind keeps getting drawn back to how very sympatico Bill Richardson seemed to be when he endorsed Obama.
I can also guess that won’t happen because Hillary may try to keep him off the ticket out of spite, as part of her impending stand-down bargain. But I think he’d be a good choice because I think people will like him across the board. One can argue that means as much if not more than providing a small and indeterminate boost in one or two states.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Just a note, McCain has plenty of issues with his home state. They are very upset about the amnesty plan he hatched with Kennedy. Of course, Napolitano is having her own issues as well with the same topic. McCain will likely win AZ, but it won’t be pretty.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I think Richardson has a shot, but not because there is any budding relationship between him and Obama. Obama has problems with Latino voters and Richardson puts an important voting block in play.
I personally think Obama should pick a blue-dog Democrat from a Southern state. Not that Obama has any shot at getting my vote, but I think a conservative Southern Democrat will help him with many of the groups he is currently struggling with.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Sorry, hit submit too soon. A conservative Democrat also might keep Democrats who would consider McCain on board for Obama.
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I think Richardson would have a hard time explaining why he chose to criticize the State Dept. for having a travel advisory to Mexico, while he was in Mexico, the day before the chief of police of Mexico City was assassinated in front of his home.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
“Jim Webb, Ted Strickland, Kathleen Sebelius, Claire McCaskill”
Interesting list. I’d be OK with any of those except maybe Jim Webb. But I think Obama can do better.
Chuck Hagel will be extremely unlikely for VP. Too many Democrats just aren’t ready for a GOP running mate. VP is the tie-breaker in the senate, and as admirable a guy as Hagel is, I don’t think the Democrats want the anyone even remotely related to the GOP to have any more voting power than they currently do. To say nothing of the possibility that Hagel would be first in line to take over the presidency if anything were to happen to Obama. Look for Hagel to end up in the cabinet instead, possibly (hopefully) as SecDef.
I still like Richardson for VP.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
He needs someone who doesn’t suggest he might get shot. Let’s see… not Huckabeee….not Hillary… At least the list is getting shorter.