If Kerry picks Gephardt......

[virtualobserver]

which country should I move to?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Any one you want

Gephardt would be a great choice for our Vice President. He's been a great asset to our country and to our party for many years.

[virtualobserver]

2. I loved it when he betrayed Daschle and Senate Dems

and undercut them with a Photo-op with Bush when they were trying to get a better Iraq resolution.

[NeonLX]

5. Here's the pic for ya...

Sorry, couldn't upload it with this message...

[Pastiche423]

24. Here you go...

[Hippo_Tron]

26. Dupe n/t

[Renew Deal]

3. He's OK, but Kerry would lose.

Gephardt would hurt the ticket.

[virtualobserver]

7. I think that you are being quite generous.....

I'll lose a lot of respect for Kerry if he picks him.

Obviously, all that I'm hearing is rumor, but Gep for VP is a chilling notion and would be proof that the Kerry campaign is strategically inept.

[WI_DEM]

4. it would turn off alot of people

Gep is a good guy, but he was the WH point man on the Iraqi Resolution and one of its strongest boosters. The war in Iraq is the pivotal issue of this campaign and many people vigorously oppose this war and to have Gep on the ticket would not be reassuring. A Kerry/Gephardt ticket would be one of the surest war to boost Nader, imo.

[Kolesar]

6. I think Gephardt is dreadful

He did an ok job fighting the Gingerich revolution, but he came across terribly in his presidential campaign.

[JETS]

8. IRAQ n/t

[virtualobserver]

11. Actaully, Iraq is the place where people go....

when they are foolish enough to believe Bush.

[eileen from OH]

9. I share everyone's er. .. lack of enthusiasm

HOWEVER, keep in mind the following:

- Kerry needs to win the Midwest. Can't write off the South, but it's unlikely that Kerry will make much inroads there, no matter WHO his running mate is.

- Gore lost Ohio by only 3.5% AFTER pulling all ads and campaigning there a month before. If he'd won Ohio he wouldn't have NEEDED Florida. Right now, Ohio has a wildly unpopular Republican governor and it is very, very possible that Kerry can take Ohio.

- The Midwest is not a cultural/social entity like "the South". The way I read it, a Southerner from any Southern state is almost interchangeable. The Midwest is NOT a monolith. Ohioans don't know Vilsak, Bayh, Rockefeller, etc. and the vice-versa is also true. Putting Bayh on the ticket would elicit a big "Evan WHO?" from the other states.

- The only name that I can think of that is popular and known in ALL the Midwestern states is Gephardt. Gep's support and reputation for working man/woman issues is well-known.

For all of the above, I do think that Gephardt makes sense as a VP candidate - if winning is the key priority. My personal preference is Dick Durbin, who ALMOST fills the same bill, but I would really, really hate to lose him in the Senate.

eileen from OH

[virtualobserver]

10. I don't disagree with your analysis generally......

I just don't think that Gephardt actually helps. Anyone influenced by Gephardt already knows that Kerry is far superior to Bush.

[eileen from OH]

12. Well, wouldn't that be true of ANY

VP candidate? It's not just influence, it's getting out the vote. And I can clearly envision a labor block who is not excited by Kerry who WOULD turn out for the guy who has had their interests at heart throughout his entire political career. Gep comes off as a lot more of a regular guy than JK and if he were on the ticket there's a lot of Midwesterners who would take it as a sign that the Dems are going back to their roots - the working stiff.

eileen from OH

[virtualobserver]

15. I'm influenced by the fact that Gephardt could not harness labor

effectively during the primaries.

You may be right about Gephardt, but I don't personally believe that he is a good candidate. I want someone who can highlight all of Cheney's weaknesses.

[JI7]

16. not true, Gephardt voted against NAFTA and other trade deals JK voted for

so gephardt can help with those who are upset with those things. isn't one of the biggest complaints of the left wing the trade deals pushed by the dlc, especially NAFTA ? and Gephardt is one of the few possible vp choices who is most likely to bring his state (a swing state) to our side. during the primary Kerry had Gephardt do a lot of campaigning for him in the midwest states. he is popular among people there .

[virtualobserver]

20. if Gephardt was a Senator, I might agree.....

But Missouri has two Republican Senators.

He won't help in Missouri.

13. Given what you are saying

& I agree about the Midwest having lived in the midwest (eastern Kansas & eastern Missouri & western Ohio & Chicago) for a total of 30 years until around 1995.

Not sure I agree that Gephardt helps though. He's too much of a "career" politician, although I realize that is a subjective assessment.

I would prefer someone like Harkin from Iowa or Sibelius, governor of Kansas.

[eileen from OH]

17. Harkin IS known, that's true

but I don't know that he has the labor creds of Gep and, like Durbin, would hate to lose him in the Senate. Sibelius is another perfect example of someone who is not known in the Midwest. Again, in the South it seems to be that all you have to do is say "So and so is from the South" and an entire region gets excited. Tell a Midwesterner "Sibelius" and a) they won't know who the hell he is and b) after hearing "He's the gov of Kansas!" they would do a "yeah, so what?"

We just don't CARE that much. There isn't a regional pride, like there is in the South.

eileen from OH

18. Sebelius is a woman, which proves your point.

Her father is John Gilligan, former governor of Ohio, by the way.

[Kolesar]

14. I heard: Gep plays well in the South & Edwards plays well in the Midwest

That was an analysis I read somewhere, from their exposure during the primaries. The Dems can win this thing without winning the South--even Florida--so they ought to concentrate on the Midwest. That would mean Edwards would be a good choice, he could spend time here campaigning for Kerry.

All Edwards needs is a message and he can carry it. Heaven knows, he is telegenic. My impression of him from the primaries was that I could not figure out what his program was. (I heard that he was the son of mill workers, though).
edit:typo

[eileen from OH]

19. Yep, Edwards could be attractive in the Midwest

If anything though, his lack of political creds and experience hurt him. He is absolutely DYNAMITE in person (saw him in Youngstown)and that's important. But he doesn't have the history with the Midwest that Gep does. And they would hammer him on his lack of foreign policy creds (heartbeat away and all that.) Plus, sometimes I detect (and this is purely anecdotal and not representative) a certain backlash around here towards the South. We get a tad tired of hearing how we must cater to the South in order to win. Putting Edwards on the ticket is such an obvious sop to that, and it could appear that, once again, the heartland doesn't matter. Doesn't make it true and I don't think it is, but it could be seen that way.

Personally, I would LOVE to see the ol' star trial lawyer take on Cheney in a debate.

eileen from OH

[Kolesar]

22. understood ..... eom

[Demobrat]

21. If?

That deal was done in Iowa. Start packin' bro.

[virtualobserver]

31. Since the the Defense Department is predicting an ice age....

I'm thinking that a cross-country ski trip to Ecuador is in order.

[DFLforever]

23. Vermont!

seriously, don't bother to move, just don't bother to vote for the lifeless combo.

[salonghorn70]

25. I Like Gephardt

I did not support him in either of his Presidential runs, however, I have always liked him. I have actually thought that in a general election he would do a lot better than some of you think. He comes across as sincere and passionate. He is the Eagle Scout(he was one) boy next door who has worked his way to the top. I was moved to him him talk about what his parents gave him and how tough it was when his son was so ill. I think that all of these qualities would appeal to a lot of down home voters. He would appeal to the kitchen table Democrats and the Reagan Democrats. I think he'd be a good choice.

[Hippo_Tron]

27. Gephardt = another boring politician...

And another long service record for the Republicans to chew up and spit out. Plus, the constitution requires the Vice President to have eyebrows :evilgrin:.

[leyton]

28. I like Gephardt for his midwestern connection.

He may not be as exciting as John Edwards or as liberal as Kucinich but I think he would ultimately help us out a lot electorally. He lost Iowa, I think, because of his negative ads. I think he still can pull unions there, and in other nearby midwest states like his own Missouri. I also think Gephardt plus Kerry make our best chance for a win in Ohio.

I also think this a better choice geography-wise than any of the others. There is no great candidate that has regional ties in the Southwest (Richardson won't run and Napolitano probably won't either, being a first-term governor). We're not likely to do much in the South (Breaux and Clark might pull their own states, Edwards wouldn't IMO, and Graham is iffy). The Northeast is a lock, I think. That leaves the midwest and the Rocky Mountain states, and one of those regions is Bush country.

It is not quite our luck this year that our Southern Senators are retiring, and Kerry and Gephardt are probably not the ones to lead the party forward, but I think they can take back the White House together. In eight years, we'll have plenty of good choices: Governors Richardson, Sibelius, and Napolitano... (assuming they win reelection) and others.

[FrenchieCat]

29. Wait for me!

Reasons VP Gephardt is a bad idea:

When did Gephardt ever win Ohio and Missouri? Being a Representative means you run and won IN YOUR DISTRICT. Gephardt is not known as a "moderate".

All we need is the records of two, not one, multiple decades long voting records!

Gee, 33% of Americans list War on Terror as their main concern, and 20% list Iraq as their main concern. That equals to 53% concerned with National Security and Foreign policy. Asked what they were most concerned about, 44 percent of voters nationally identified jobs and the economy, 33 percent said the war on terrorism and 20
percent cited the situation in Iraq. http://tinyurl.com/2xqbu

Yeah...let's get the architect of the House Iraq War Resolution on the ticket. You know the resolution that the majority of House Dems voted against? The one where Gephardt has the real cute Pic with Bush in the Rose Garden?

Yeah, let's get the guy that came in 4th in Iowa.....where he was supposed to come in first because of his "organization". Labor will not be voting Bush....please understand that!

Why not have the guy that was almost thrown out as House Minority Whip run as VP?.....

found at the Marist site:

Question Wording: Which one of the following Democrats would you most like to see Senator John Kerry choose to run with him as vice
president:

April 2004

.......................Reg Voters B/G States Dems & Dem Leaning Ind

Edwards.................. 28%........ 27%.............. 34%
Clark.................... 14%........ 17%.............. 12%
Gephardt.................. 9%......... 9%.............. 10%
Graham.................... 6%......... 7%............... 6%
Richardson................ 5%......... 4%............... 6%
Nunn...................... 4%......... 3%............... 1%
Bayh...................... 3%......... 2%............... 3%
Napolitano................ 3%......... 4%............... 4%
Warner.................... 3%......... 3%............... 2%
Vilsack................... 2%......... 3%............... 1%
Unsure................... 23%........ 21%.............. 21%]]

http://www.maristpoll.marist.edu/usapolls/PZ040426.htm

Of course Edwards is ahead of all since he got the media adulation througout since his 2nd place in Iowa and 5th in New Hampshire....all the way home.....
http://www.moderateindependent.com/v2i3feb3prim.htm

Wes Clark doing well despite Smear and ignore by the media.

In fact, considering those facts.....looks like in battleground
states, Clark is only 10% from Edwards....

Considering what I have just written about Edwards and his temporary press fans (cause if he became VP nominee, Edwards fans ain't seen nothing yet when it comes to media/GOP smears....instead lulled into a false sense that Edwards is above criticism...hahaha...the joke will be on us), Associated Press, of course, chose to highlight not the important numbers for VP in the Battleground states, but instead highlighted those numbers that made Edwards look the best......Dems and Indys leaning Dems. Where are the Republicans and Republican leaning Indys?

Look at the AP story for yourself to see the subtle media manipulation in reporting polls to continue pumping up Edwards as VP favorite http://tinyurl.com/2xqbu
....Funny how that all works!

The telephone poll of 787 registered voters was conducted April
20-23 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

[DaveSZ]

30. I'm thinking of Canada

Let's hope he doesn't pick Gep though.

[virtualobserver]

33. I'm not sure that I have enough ELF DNA ....

to survive in the great white north.

If Kerry makes a major mistake, I see a major third party bid in our future.

[Colin Ex]

35. People should take the first part of this

as a good example of how to make a point effectively.

As opposed to posting a picture of the Rose Garden and the vomit emoticon.

-C

[IndianaGreen]

32. Kerry needs someone with charisma as VP

Even tin hearted Dick Cheney has more of a personality than Gephardt.

While no one ever votes on the basis of the second banana on the ticket, a bad choice can provide hours of material to the late night shows such as Leno and Letterman. Beware of a Democratic Dan Quayle!

[serryjw]

34. HORRIBLE choice.........TWO life long politicians with enough

baggage to fill a steamer trunk.........We would lose big time. Labor is on no matter whom is the VP.......They want Bushit out. We need someone whom can energize the ticketand bring in new voters with charisma since they will be debating boring Chaney.....remember Kennedy v Nixon!

[JHBowden]

36. We need EVs.

Gephardt will deliver Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.