Now that the primary season is winding down, I invite you all to speculate as to the VP picks for Obama and McCain.
In your comments, please speculate about the following scenarios and any others you wish to consider:
1. VP picks in an ideal world (whatever that means to you)
2. Most likely actual VP picks (and why)
3. Who the VP picks would be if everyone involved went insane
4. VP picks so crazy that they might just be brilliant
14 comments:
1. Feingold
2. McCaskill, Sebelius
3. Clinton
4. What he really needs is someone with ties to both the Midwest and the Mountain West, preferably a woman, a liberal but with unimpeachable religious credentials, capable of lending a certain gravitas to the ticket. Hmmm . . . Doesn't Marilynne get a semester off soon?
Obama, who four years ago was an Illinois state senator, ran and won the nomination against the biggest name in Democratic politics. I trust his judgment more than mine and would not substitute any of my picks for whomever he chooses. I think McCain should pick John Hagee.
Obama
1. In an ideal world, Bill Richardson would have the political skills to match his awesome resume.
2. Sebelius, Webb. I know these aren't sexy picks (in any sense!) but there's a reason why they're the favorites. More dark-horsey: Schweitzer.
3. Chuck Hagel or Mike Bloomberg. Hagel's the guy who should have the McCain's rep. But he's still on the wrong side of too many issues. Bloomberg's more reasonable but doesn't get Obama many new votes.
Even insane people wouldn't want to pick Clinton.
4. Mark Warner. I know he's running for the senate and all. That's what makes it CRAZY. Otherwise he'd be an excellent choice.
McCain
1. In an ideal world, McCain is a happily retired grillmaster and "vice presidential" duties amount to making sure the beer stays cold and tying his apron. So: Joe Lieberman.
2. People talk a lot about Jindahl- He's young! He's brown! But my bet is that it's more a Pawlenty or a Crist, someone younger and unexciting but with the potential to get him EVs.
3. Believing the hard stance on verb tense to be a winner, McCain digs in and announces Abraham Lincoln as his running mate.
4. Citing the Cheney precedent, McCain makes himself VP and chooses an empty suit to head up the ticket.
1. Obama: Bill Clinton (how I miss your Burning Man ways); McCain: Charles Barkley ("I am not a role model" indeed).
2. Sebelius, McCaskill (they seem to have the buzz).
3. Obama: Louis Farrakhan; McCain: Joel Osteen
4. Once again, I say Barkley! For either of them!
A link for El Gordo.
THIS kind of stuff is why I think he might be a nice addition to a Republican ticket (he was a Republican until around 2006) --
"I was a Republican until they lost their minds," and
"What I've said is I'm rich like a Republican. But I'm not one."
Last night I found myself actually wondering if HRC as VP would be AOK. Then I read this in The Guardian, in which Jimmy Carter says it would be batshit-crazy, and it snapped me wide awake.
She's not acting like she wants it-- in fact, she's acting like a kamikaze. Or at least what would be a kamikaze for anyone with a different last name.
I don't know if anyone else heard the "but you better not pick another woman as your VP" line. Just awful--and frankly, beneath her. The only reason for this that I can think of us that she wants to call dibs on the women vote for the next time around. Awful.
What I hope is that she wants Health and Human Services or a SCOTUS nom. She'd be great for either.
Obama would be crazy to pick HRC not because of her, but because of Bill. Damn, how my opinion of him has changed over the last six or so months. And check out that Vanity Fair article. Whoa!
But SER you haven't given us your speculation.
Carter's right. Clinton would be a drag on the ticket. Everything that Obama's been saying about change and page-turning would sound hollow with Clinton standing next to him.
Obviously, I love Edwards and early polling has an Obama-Edwards ticket crushing the electoral map. Too bad he's already said no. I still hope to see him in the Cabinet. I also like Sebelius and her record of working blue in a red state.
But anybody really would be better than that Titanic of an Obama-Clinton ticket. There's a reason Bill Kristol loves the idea. That alone should give anyone pause.
1. Kucinich
2. Webb (Virginia could swing the election, he does well with working class white males, and he's strong on military.)
3. Rev. Wright
4. Robert Wexler (Nobody's talking about him because it will never happen, but he's another white male in a swing state--Florida--who has some guts and seems pretty cool... Also: he's advocated for Obama already.)
Wexler is a good pick because he has the same talent for truth to power. He went against his constituents with Obama and it looks like he'll be an important surrogate down there in FL. But isn't there a reason why VPs don't usually come from the house? I remember Steve K., the wonk on the dey house porch in 2004, saying something about that. If he's reading this maybe he can chime in.
I'm so excited about an Edwards led DOJ that I didn't even think to mention him as a VP pick. But beyond him not wanting it, there's some of the same problem as HRC- the VP needs to be someone who is taking a clear upward step in being Obama's #2. Edwards has a bit too much stature for that. (Is there data to suggest how much-- and in what geo/demographics-- Edwards helped Kerry in 2004? Worth knowing, one way or the other, as at the time that seemed like an excellent pick- and he still lost).
Here's what excites me most about Obama: everything I've read suggests that he understands the importance of having his ideas challenged. What he does with aides he will do with the cabinet: solicit competing points of view. There's suggestion that he'll go with the Lincoln model and fill his cabinet not with loyalists but with rivals-- making for a certain and I think important contrast with the croneyism that underlies much of the tragedy of the last 8 years.)
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