Obama's VP
The speculation on Obama's choice for VP is getting out of hand. Most sources seem to agree that the VP will be one of Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, or Tim Kaine with the slight possibility of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Of the four of those, Kathleen Sebelius is the only one I really like. She's a female governor with very liberal politics in Kansas, one of the most conservative states, and she even gets strong approval ratings from those conservative Kansans. She would be ideal, except she has almost no national profile and she's a terrible, awful public speaker. This is the problem for Obama. He's got to pick another Washington "outsider" to be his running mate if he wants to hold any truth to his "Change You Can Believe In" slogan, and yet Washington outsiders have no national profile and for a good reason. Of the other three supposed candidates, Joe Biden is a smug old northeasterner (think John Kerry) who's been in DC for years; Evan Bayh is conservative and patriarchal, and Tim Kaine is not a bad candidate, except he's the governor of Virginia and ought to stay there if the Democrats are serious about turning Virginia into a Blue state. I'm on Obama's mailing list and last week they were trying to convince me to sign up to receive a text message with the VP's name the instant they announce it so I can "be the first to know!" This announcement is over-hyped and will be majorly anticlimactic if the choice is anything other than a total, shocking surprise...
Which bring me to my next point. Politico is reporting that Ralph Nader called in to give them the tip that Obama is going to pick Clinton, "never mind the talk of mistrust between the Clintons and Obama." That may just be a coy move on Nader's part to steal the political spotlight for a moment and stir up rumors about Obama, but I have to say, given how dreadfully bland all of the other supposed VP candidates are, I much prefer Clinton. In fact, I'd say that Clinton is one of the few possilbe VP picks he could go with that would be anything shy of anti-climactic. Plus, it would make a lot of sense for his campaign. Obama's strength has always been the enthusiasm for him from his base. After he won the nomination and snapped right to the middle, that enthusiasm has waned, and helps to explain the Senators slowly dying numbers in the polls (he's now tied or behind McCain) and his trouble meeting his own fundraising goals. Plus, some faction of the Democratic party just sees Obama as the man who stole the election from Hillary. Announcing Hillary as VP would bring those party members back into the fold, and it would re-energize his base without requiring him to snap back to the left (something he's not going to unless he wins the election.)
I don't care for those other rich white guys Obama, pick Clinton. I've changed my mind, I want to see the "dream ticket" become a reality.
Which bring me to my next point. Politico is reporting that Ralph Nader called in to give them the tip that Obama is going to pick Clinton, "never mind the talk of mistrust between the Clintons and Obama." That may just be a coy move on Nader's part to steal the political spotlight for a moment and stir up rumors about Obama, but I have to say, given how dreadfully bland all of the other supposed VP candidates are, I much prefer Clinton. In fact, I'd say that Clinton is one of the few possilbe VP picks he could go with that would be anything shy of anti-climactic. Plus, it would make a lot of sense for his campaign. Obama's strength has always been the enthusiasm for him from his base. After he won the nomination and snapped right to the middle, that enthusiasm has waned, and helps to explain the Senators slowly dying numbers in the polls (he's now tied or behind McCain) and his trouble meeting his own fundraising goals. Plus, some faction of the Democratic party just sees Obama as the man who stole the election from Hillary. Announcing Hillary as VP would bring those party members back into the fold, and it would re-energize his base without requiring him to snap back to the left (something he's not going to unless he wins the election.)
I don't care for those other rich white guys Obama, pick Clinton. I've changed my mind, I want to see the "dream ticket" become a reality.