Who Should Be Obama’s VP? (POLL)
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In the comments on another post, EricM wanted to discuss his pick for Obama’s VP. So instead of discussing it there, I’ve posted a poll here.
Note that you can pick more than one name if you like. I did this so I could create a “short list” and poll again later. You can also “write in” a name not shown here.
So make your choice(s) and tell me why you like that pick.
P.S. I randomized the choices…
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This crowd is all over the map.
I like Sherrod Brown as the most progressive of the bunch, Hagel cuz it would just enrage wingnuttistan, and Jim Webb, cuz he helps us win.
“Other” turns out to be…Rev. Wright.
Heh.
BTW, are you sure Webb helps us win? Don’t we lose a lot of Clinton voters based on Webb’s demonstrated macho value system…? And aren’t you getting another white guy with anger management issues?
P.S. I probably should have put Tom Daschle’s name on the list. Maybe someone will write him in…although his enduring appeal (he’s one of Obama’s mentors!) escapes me.
I like Webb (I’ve had dinner with the guy) but Ross Douthat at The Atlantic makes a pretty devastating case against it.
I also like Hagel but he’s no liberal. Maybe Mark Warner? That would cinch Virginia and perhaps bring some of those elusive Appalachian white voter out of the hills (if only he had some salad on his chest).
How about Richard Clarke?
Can’t pick Warner — he’s a lock to flip John Warner’s Senate seat to the Dems.
As for Webb, Joyner and Douthat do a pretty good job of airing out the pros and cons of choosing the guy, again outlining the two schools of thought in VP-picking: balance vs. reinforcement. Webb might be the one guy who can do both. But I can’t say for sure at this point.
I do like it that Webb would fill (quite well) the attack-dog role that VPs usually are assigned. Lieberman and Edwards failed so badly at that, both giving Cheney — and Bush — a free pass during their respective debates.
Oh, right…about Warner, I mean.
Well, I do think he needs someone who can do the partisan take-down better than Lieberman and Edwards, and someone who boosts his national security cred while supporting his progressive domestic policy agenda. If he does that he won’t need a woman on the ticket, they’ll have no choice (that was a McCain/Republican Supreme Court pick joke). The white crackers of Appalachia (and elsewhere) aren’t going to vote for him whoever he picks as VP.
Ara,
Thanks for blowing this up into a full blown thread. Why give up on Warner so quickly? I don’t know much about VA politics, but surely there are a handful of Ds somewhere in VA that could flip the seat without too much trouble. If Obama were to pick Webb, VA Ds would have to find that person anyway.
I do think shep’s idea of the “partisan take-down” VP has some solid merit. Obama gently chides said VP candidate a few times strategically while staying above the fray.
The difference between Webb and Warner is that Webb is a sitting Senator and Warner is not. Yet.
Therefore, unless Virgina’s rules are different than most states, Gov. Kaine would pick Webb’s successor; not so with candidate Warner.
P.S. Webb would, indeed, be a terrific slasher for going after McCain.
You still have to win the “special” “run off” election. The D VA candidate who is to win that seat must be found somewhere. Same difference.
OK, I’m back to Richard Clarke. He really is quite good at gentlemanly cutting out an opponent’s liver, rhetorically speaking (check), has better WOT cred than, well, just about anybody (check), will drive the neocons crazy (check) and looks squeeky-clean, from a Republican/media slime-flinging perspective (check). Bonus: in spite of the above abilities, he isn’t a politician.
Somebody talk me out of it.
He’s a good guy but he leaves me cold. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but … he doesn’t get it for me.
As for Webb’s replacement, I was under the impression that there would be a replacement named on January 20, 2009 then a run-off in 2010. But I could be wrong. Most states do it this way, but some (e.g., Mass.) do not.