Kerry Shows "No" Signs of Quick VP Decision (possible vp names mentioned)

[JI7]

<Kerry's selection process is unlikely to yield a decision for weeks. There are no firm assurances he will announce his selection before the nominating convention in late July, even though that's the goal.

Once Kerry settles on a short list of candidates, each will undergo intense scrutiny to try to prevent any surprises. The campaign has yet to determine what needs should be addressed in the selection, delaying the process even more.

``I don't think they've clearly made up their minds about which direction to go,'' said veteran consultant Steve Jarding.

Some of the caution stems from the fact that the decision is Kerry's biggest since locking up the nomination.

``There's pressure to do it early, but there's pressure to do it right,'' said Jarding. >

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3941380,00.html

i agree with that final sentence i quoted from the article.

the article mentions some usual names for vp. it leaves out mccain's name, but ADDS william cohen(please no).

just a few days ago there was an article about how kerry was going to pick his running mate early, this articles gives the opposite message. so we wont really know much for sure until kerry actually picks his vp and then go back and see which articles were accurate and which weren't. i'm thinking supporters of different vp choices are probably leaking things to the media or attempting to get their candidate's name out there and that's how this is happening. kerry's vp selection thing is very top secret with many in the campaign not involved, but those not involved are probably doing what i just said which is where the mccain thing comes from.

[fujiyama]

1. Why Cohen (repug)

when we have others with strong national security backgrounds (hint Wes Clark).

Sometimes I'll never get it with these "party insiders".

[JI7]

2. actually, there is no source for cohen, it's the author who brings it up

as an example of someone kerry can pick if he wants his message to be about reaching out to others or something like that. in 2000 william cohen was often mentioned also with "reaching out" to others being the reason then also. but the article doesn't say anyone in the campaign said cohen is actually being considered. the whole article is partly about kerry maybe not picking vp early, and party about possible vp choices and analysis of why they would be chosen and what they could bring. they also mention past vp picks such as bush needing cheney for foreign policy and gore picking lieberman on morals thing.

[fujiyama]

3. Yeah that's kinda what I figured

I didn't think they were hinting at it beinga serious choice.

I just hope Kerry makes a better decision than Gore did in choosing a VP. While Lieberman has got worse in recent years (his support for Bush over Clarke REALLY pissed me off), he was never really that great a pick. It always seemed as though he purposely did as much as he could to drive away more liberal voters (I clearly remember his sneering comments how "we don't have freedom from religion, only freedom of religion".

I understand electoral concerns of remaining "electable", but we also need as many liberal voters as well.

Hopefully Kerry will be smarter than that.

[w4rma]

4. Edwards gives the ticket more credibility on trade. (nt)