Who should run for VP?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

Choosing the Vice Presidential nominee could be critical when it comes to the GE. We don't know yet who our Presidential nominee will be, but what advice would you give him for selecting his running mate?

If Dean or Kerry get the nod, do they need to have a Southerner for geographic balance? If its Clark or Edwards, do they need a Northerner? Or would it be best for, say, Kerry to select one of the other candidates that has had a strong showing of delegates (right now the runner up for delegates is Dean, though that may well change after today)? Or should the nominee choose someone who hasn't been bloodied by primary battles, like the Governor of Virgina? Or how about Carol Mosely-Braun for veep?

[arewethereyet]

1. non-candidate and electorial balance, not regional so much

though its close to the same thing.

But it HAS to be a non-candidate.

[funky_bug]

2. It's always been a geographical issue

Though I would love to see a woman veep on the ticket, this election is too important this year to risk shaking the sugar tree.

[gWbush is Mabus]

3. instead of a southerner, choose a person from a state that's in play

like ohio or something

[MrSlayer]

4. Other. Best guy for the job. Wes Clark.

IF Dean or Kerry win. Selecting Clark gives automatic foreign policy and national security credibility.

[arewethereyet]

6. If its Kerry, already have ONE war hero. Need electoral votes from VP

and Clark can't do that

[THUNDER HANDS]

5. Max Cleland

I wasn't too sure about him before I saw him on Hardball, and WOW. He knocked my socks off.

I DEMAND Kerry put his buddy at the head of the list for VP.

A Kerry-Cleland ticket would be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. :)

[shawmut]

11. I agree

Max!

[JoePizz]

7. I can almost garuntee who the VP will be-

Bob Graham. Here's why:

Bob Graham is very popular in Florida- and without Florida, there is almost no chance a republican can win the presidancy in a (fair) election.

If Clarke does not win the nomination, it is possible that he might be selected for his military credentials (I seem to recall something to the effect that Dean wanted him before Clarke decided to run), but I have a feeling Clarke would not be happy with the number two spot and would likely not accept.

After all of the bad blood spent between most of the candidates, I doubt any of them would want to be VP to one of the others. This isn't the 1980 Republican primary, where Bush I coined Reagan's supply side economics as "Voodoo Economics" and then accepted a nod to be his VP.

[arewethereyet]

8. he just got caught not paying his migrant workers the min wage

try again

[Rationality]

12. Graham can't carry North Florida

Where I'm at, he's not all that respected, so the battle for Florida will be along the I4 corridor. Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando especially. Miami will also be tough. He'll take Gainesville and perhaps Tallahassee in the north, but Jax and Pensacola are lost causes....

[DAGDA56]

13. I like Bob...but...

he's not the youngest guy out there...the people here in Fla keep whispering about his overall health...agreed, anybody who's met him likes him, regardless of party (nobody doesn't like Bob Graham)...I like him...but I'm not sold on him, if you know what I mean. If you need a guy from Florida, what about Bill Nelson?

[belle]

20. ech. also, he's dull as hell. I vote Kerry/Edwards or Dean/Clark.

I think, assuming Kerry wins the nomination, Edwards should be veep. He'd be first or second runner-up *and* geographical balance, as well as other kinds of balance: Kerry would appear to be going for the "bring it on" image, while Edwards reads a lot more like a diplomat. And he has much more working-class and middle-class appeal, I think, Edwards, and can claim background cred in that department too, which is a nice counterbalance to the way they're going to try to paint Kerry, as this rich East Coast aristocrat. Also he's young and charismatic and has good hair, which are always good in a veep; and he's young and "rookie" enough so that his charisma doesn't threaten to outshine Kerry. I just think Kerry/Clark would be kind of redundant; the main thing Clark has going for him as far as I'm concerned is his military cred, and Kerry has that. And they're both giving off kind of "mad as hell and not gonna take it any more" vibes, which may seem great right now but may give some people pause later on. Anyway, I think ultimately Edwards has more visibility.

Now, in the now-unlikely-but-always-possible scenario that Dean won, I'd be more willing to look at Clark as veep, just because of the military cred, which I'm more and more convinced is necessary for *somebody* on the ticket to have--it puts a big old hole in Bush's tough military guy image, which is what he's trying to bank on. God knows he can't run on his economic record...

Dunno who I'd pick if Clark or Edwards won the number one spot. Maybe the two of them together would be best--insider/outsider. I think especially if Clark won he'd need to pick someone with serious governmental cred to balance him out. Hmm.

[Rationality]

9. The VP should enforce the Prez's ideals where his experience

may be lacking. I'm not sure about individual candidates, but if Kerry wins, an ideal VP, in my opinion, would be a Washington outsider who is sympathetic to labor. If Dean takes it, a foreign relations specialist with Beltway connections, and so forth...

[BeatleBoot]

10. Ed Rendell (Gov of PA)

If we get Ohio or Penn, Florida won't matter much...

Clark would work, too.

[DAGDA56]

14. Yeah, Rendell's a good choice...

wasn't he a Democratic mayor of Philadelphia?

[ThomWV]

15. Graham or Richardson

My guess

[Joe the Revelator]

16. Mark Warner VA Gov

I have no doubt that Virginia would be a blue state if this was the case. Not only do we like Warner, we need to retain our status as "father of Presidents" somehow.

[childslibrarian]

17. You need midwestern states

Evan Bayh. Or a hispanic like Richardson of New Mexico. Could help Florida...I agree, Graham is up there in age.

[Rationality]

19. NOT THOSE TWO!!!

Do we really need any further DLC involvement?

[mmonk]

18. "Running" for VP?

[Piperay]

21. Choose a Southerner

the Democrats shouldn't give up any part of the country, make the repukes have to battle for every area.