Pin the VP on the Nominee

[DeepModem Mom]

WP political blog, "The Fix," by Chris Cillizza
Friday Line: Pin the VP on the Nominee

....To put together this week's line -- which lists the five most likely vice presidential picks for Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) -- The Fix spoke with a variety of party strategists, read all the clips we could find and used plain old common sense....

***

BARACK OBAMA

Tim Kaine: Kaine has three major things going for him -- he'll be looking for a job in January 2009, he was the among the first major elected officials to endorse Obama and he is popular in a state expected to be a central battleground in November. The problem for Kaine is that he does little to strength Obama's biggest weakness: foreign policy bona fides.

Bill Richardson: Richardson's decision to weigh in for Obama even as the controversy over Rev. Jeremiah Wright bubbled threw the Illinois Senator a lifeline when he badly needed one. The New Mexico governor has an extremely deep resume that would nicely complement Obama's strengths. A Richardson pick could also serve as a symbolic olive branch to the Hispanic community, which has gone heavily against Obama in the primaries, and add to the historic nature of the ticket.

(Former Indiana Congressman) Tim Roemer....
(Kansas Governor) Kathleen Sibelius....
(Virginia Senator) Jim Webb....

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Evan Bayh: The protracted primary fight is good news for Bayh's vice presidential chances as he gets an (unexpected) opportunity to show his mettle on behalf of Clinton in Indiana's May 6 primary. Bayh has a terrific case on paper: two terms as governor and two terms in the Senate from a red state in the Midwest. He's also been one of the most effective and active advocates for Clinton throughout the campaign. Bayh's biggest problem is that vice presidential picks are not always made on paper. His detractors see him a stiff and shallow -- a choice that wouldn't create much excitement.

John Edwards: The former North Carolina Senator continues to stay out of the fray, perhaps waiting to maximize his political capital before endorsing either Obama or Clinton. If he goes with the New York Senator, he would be an obvious veep choice for her, having run nationally three times (twice for president, once for vice president) and easily wearing the populist mantle that Democrats seem to be yearning for. The issue with an Edwards pick is whether it would be perceived as more of the same in an election year where voters want change?

Barack Obama....
(Florida Senator) Bill Nelson....
(Ohio Governor) Ted Strickland....

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/03/friday_line_veepstakes.html?hpid=topnews

[terrell9584]

1. Clinton would need Clark

Or someone else with war hero status. That is McCain's advantage. If he had not spent 5 years in a prison camp when he didn't have to, he wouldn't have that nomination, and he certainly wouldn't have survived S & L.

That's the biggest advantage McCain has. The feeling among the American population that someone like him "deserves it", if only for his service. Keep in mind, this country has elected people based solely on that before. Every post Civil War president that the Republicans elected up till Roosevelt had served for the Union, and Roosevelt was a war hero from the War of 1898. Andrew Jackson won it because he was a war hero. We have a history of electing war hero heroes in this country, we just do. To blunt McCain's obvious war hero status, we have to have someone who can match him tit for tat, I think that's Clark, and I wanted Clark to be the nominee in '04 because I thought that we would have been able to hit Bush on his service record when compared to Clark.

Obama will honestly have the same problem. To run against McCain, a running mate will have to have had some kind of relevant military experience. Being in a champagne guard like W won't cut it, I'm talking about actual combat experience, and this could be Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Panama, Grenada, Haiti, the Balkans, Somalia, whatever, but that is just going to be a necessity when facing someone who is rightly regarded as an American hero, even if he should be nowhere near the White House.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Very good points, terrell -- thanks for the post! nt