Why Not Kathleen Sebelius As Veep?

[Yavin4]

I say go for it. She's exactly what Obama needs. She can bring in women, esp. older women from across the spectrum, and she may, just may, put Kansas in play.

What's the counter argument?

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

1. My counter-argument would be that Obama needs to attract white males

and Sebelius ain't gonna do it.

[Barack_America]

3. And might just piss off women really holding out for Hillary. nt

[NYC_SKP]

10. These Hillary holdouts are useless and we ought to forget about them. nt

[CTyankee]

11. Did you see my post?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6547711

I felt the same way you do. I am changing my mind, after hearing her speak.

It may be we're looking at this with tired, old eyes. We've been a little battered as Dems in this past primary season. Obama's trip opened up new vistas. We can and should look to the future, not the past. It's a whole new ballgame, IMO...

[Barack_America]

13. I hadn't. But yes, I agree with what you wrote there.

:thumbsup:

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

15. If Obama picks Sebelius, I'm cool with that. My argument against her

isn't really against her, it's just an argument for something else.

[Mz Pip]

5. I agree.

As historic as this election is, it might not be a wise idea to push the envelope too far. Is it fair? No. Should it be an issue? No. But it will be for people who aren't willing to totally go against the status quo.

Too much change all at once while appealing to me, may not be so appealing to those voters Obama is already having some difficulty with.

[saltpoint]

2. I'm not offering a counter argument. If Gov. Sebelius is our

veep nom, I'm all for it.

You make strong points and a good case can be made for her.

[newmajority]

4. Aside from her gender, what does she bring to the ticket?

Kansas isn't exactly a big electoral prize. And if it's an attempt to bring in "disgruntled Hillary supporters", it's a waste of time. Because Hillary's actual supporters came on board when she did, if not before. And the PUMAbots are about another agenda entirely. Even Hillary as VP wouldn't shut them up at this point, much less Sebelius.

I'm not opposed to the idea of a female governor on the ticket, but I just don't happen to think Kathleen adds a lot.

[mahina]

6. She'd be a fantastic President, and she won in a red state by being

really good at countering right wing BS.

[phillysuse]

7. She looks like his mother

If he is going to go with a woman no one has heard of, Blanche Lincoln, Senator from Arkansas is a MUCH better choice - Representative for 6 years, Senator for 10, photogenic, kids haven't gotten into trouble and above all - the bumper sticker - Obama/Lincoln!!!!

[mahina]

8. Agreed 100%

She would be fantastic!

[WinkyDink]

9. Why? We need to make double history this go-round?

[CTyankee]

12. Why not?

He said he was the candidate for change, didn't he?

[Prophet 451]

20. Sure

And to be honest (and assuming a relatively honest vote count), McCain is toast anyway.

To be honest though, I think Obama will play it safe and pick a white guy on the grounds that having a black man and a woman on the ticket may be more change that America would be comfortable with.

[Avalux]

14. She offers nothing except Kansas and she bores me to tears.

I can't get past her speaking style and really see nothing that puts her over the top against the other VP candidates. I'm not considering gender because that's not a good enough reason to choose her.

[Coexist]

16. I like her. And I'm starting to warm to Tim Kaine, too.

both are great choices.

[nsd]

17. I think Sebelius would be a good choice, but to play devil's advocate ...

There remains a strong bias in America against having a woman as "commander-in-chief". This is an issue for a vice presidential candidate as much as a presidential one, since the main job of vice president is to take over if necessary. The criteria for the two jobs are the same.

Hillary Clinton worked very hard to overcome this bias against a woman president. She succeeded -- by being (1) tough as nails and (2) a Clinton -- but I don't think that her success naturally transfers to other women. America might be ready for Clinton as president or vice president, but it might not be ready for Sebelius or any other woman.

Again, I don't think this objection should disqualify Sebelius, who has lots of strengths, but we have to acknowledge the potential risk with any woman other than Clinton.

[CTyankee]

22. Actually, I think Hillary got us to the point where we CAN see a woman as president.

The problem was that Hillary was "not Hillary" in that she had baggage that was tough to overcome.

Now that Hillary has put cracks in the glass ceiling, it could be the right time for a "not Hillary" but with Hillary's strengths: intelligence, experience and the ability to articulate them. Just no Bill, no 8 years in the White House with constant "incoming," and no issues around sniper fire, etc, etc.

I voted for Hillary in our primary in liberal New Haven and every woman I know who did the same have been happy to support Obama. I think feminists all across America will rise up in joyous celebration if Obama picks Sebelius.

[Clark2008]

18. I would hope Obama would reject Bilderbergers

Conspiracy theories, aside, those who attend that event are truly the "elite" on both sides of the aisle.

[Prophet 451]

19. Reasonable choice

I don't know much about her so I'm going off her page on Wiki. I only have two reservations: Firstly, she's more experianced than Obama but not as experianced as I'd like (essentially, I think that giving teh VP slot to someone wildly experianced would cancel out Obama's lack of it). Secondly, she's anti-gay marriage.

[Muttocracy]

21. My main exposure to her was response to the State of the Union

:boring:

But I don't know much about her. I have yet to hear her sticking up for Obama against GOP attack? Is she advising him on policy? Does she have any military/security/foreign policy experience?

[Vinca]

23. She's too unknown and would compound Obama's problem

with the "low information voters" who only cozy up to what they already know. I think any woman other than Hillary would cause hurt feelings and create phase 2 of the Hillary supporters abandoning ship.