I'm with Biden for VP. Webb once suggested the South had a right to secede

[Scoovydoo]

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that is a big issue, but the party is expected to pull the biggest African American turnout in history, and if Webb is elected, that effect will be diminished, because Webb, as reported today by the Politico, has praised the Confederacy several times in the past.

He has suggested many times that while the Confederacy is a symbol to many of the racist legacy of slavery and segregation, for others it simply reflects Southern pride. In a June 1990 speech in front of the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, posted on his personal website, he lauded the rebels’ “gallantry,” which he said “is still misunderstood by most Americans.”

Webb, a descendant of Confederate officers, also voiced sympathy for the notion of state sovereignty as it was understood in the early 1860s, and seemed to suggest that states were justified in trying to secede.

I highly recommend the piece. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/10994.html

My top 2 candidates are Biden and Wesley Clark. Clinton is too divisive, IMO. so I discard her as well.

[LSparkle]

1. I agree with you -- I like both Biden and Clark

Clark could be Secretary of Defense if not
VP and Biden could be State if not VP.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. That war was only partly over slavery.

It was also a war of agriculturalists against northern industrial robber-barons who were trying to rip off the South in various ways.

[Drunken Irishman]

3. Outside of slavery, I think the south had an argument to secede.

The government was controlled by the north at the expense of the south and because of it, many communities were going under. In that regard, one could make the argument they were justified. Of course, that isn't the whole story, as slavery did play a major role in their final decision.

[apocalypsehow]

4. Slavery needed to be abolished in the worst possible way, and we can all be glad that it was.

However, I think it would have been interesting to have a *COURT* test on the constitutionality of a right of a state to secede from the United States.

I think there are some very important issues along those lines that were not resolved due to the fact that the bullets started to fly in 1861.

Issues that cut the other way in our day and age, what with DOMA and a dozen other reactionary examples of Federalist overreach.

And I'm not all that sure that - strictly on the issue of secession - the South didn't have something of a case.

[jody]

5. Why do you ignore the fact that Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Delaware wanted to secede in the

early 1800s to possibly merge with Canada?

[Bullet1987]

6. Webb has said a lot of things that will make people cringe

[hedgehog]

7. It's my understanding that if the Southern voters had been a little

more patient, the right of the Southern Sates to secede would have been confirmed by a Supreme Court dominated by Southerners.



Here's a thought experiment: What if the Southern States had seceded peacefully? Would they have been able to maintain control of the areas above the cotton line where slavery wasn't viable? Or would the mountain counties have seceded as did West Virginia?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Hopefully, the inclination to secede will become popular again..minus the bloodshed.

Eventually, this union of disparate interests will break apart out of necessity. Hopefully it will be done peacefully.

[totodeinhere]

9. I doubt if you can find even one potential VP who hasn't said something...

regrettable at some point in the past. Actually, I support Richardson for VP, but cherry picking comments that someone made several years ago is a bit disingenuous.

[Radical Activist]

20. Biden is near the top of that list.

The other problem with Biden is what dumb thing he might say DURING the campaign.

[dansolo]

24. Biden is an ass

I am still bothered by his telling Khaddafi, in response to his claims that he could remain President of Libya for life, that even George Washington was "kicked out" after eight years in office. Washington voluntarily stepped down, and if he had chosen to run for a third term, would have easily won re-election. Either Biden is ignorant of history, or he likes to re-write history when it served his needs. Neither of which is a particularly good quality.

[knixphan]

10. Smokin' Joe!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[NorthAmerican]

Webb is my first choice, but Biden would be just as good. n/t

[NorthAmerican]

11. Webb is my first choice, but Biden would be just as good. n/t

[anonymous171]

12. Biden would be awesome. imo.

[Breeze54]

21. For the Credit Card companies!! n/t

[MadBadger]

13. Buh Bye Troll.

[DavidDvorkin]

14. I don't see it as trolling

[MadBadger]

15. I'm just responding to that big slab of granite in the OP's profile.

[DavidDvorkin]

17. Ooooh. I wasn't aware of that.

I wonder what led to that.

[Occam Bandage]

19. Probably a sock.

[Skwmom]

16. Biden voted for the war. McCain showed a MAJOR LACK of judgment in voting for the

war... oh, maybe not since my VP pick did the same thing.

[Radical Activist]

18. Yes, I'm really worried about Delaware and all their electoral votes.

My problem with Biden is the poor judgment he has shown with Iraq from voting for it to repeating the line that its all a sectarian civil war. He's wrong.

[Unsane]

22. Agreed. What's the hoopla over this guy?

He is funny, articulate, and loves to hear his own voice--but Im not real sure he brings much to a ticket.

[WinkyDink]

23. Didn't we here excoriate Biden as "Senator MasterCard"?

[LynneSin]

25. Biden isn't interested in VP so move along everyone

Biden wants to be president or is happy with being a highranking senior senator from my state. If by any chance he takes a position I could see it as Secretary of State, but I think he'll be a senator still after Obama is in the White House