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Veepstakes
Mar. 6th, 2008 07:25 pmClinton is suggesting she'd choose Obama as her running mate and some people are suggesting he should make a similar offer with respect to her. While that might produce some harmony within the Democratic party, it's an incredibly bad idea, regardless of who's on top.
Both of them are one term Senators with zero zilch zip executive experience. (Sorry, Hillary, fucking power doesn't mean you know how to govern anything, no matter how beloved Eva Peron may have been.) The only way to persuade the people who aren't true believers or yellow dog Democrats is to have a running mate who actually has some relevant experience at running something besides his or her mouth. That means, ideally, a current or former governor or, perhaps, the mayor of a large enough city.
The mayor idea is not really workable since both candidates are perceived as urban themselves. So you need the governor of a state with a mixed economy. Ideally, somebody from the West or the South to provide geographic balance.
Obama could get away with more in this respect, I think. He's weak among Latinos, so Bill Richardson (who was, if you recall, the candidate I favored when he was running for President) would be an almost ideal choice. There are two strikes against him though: 1) if he's veep, he can't be Secretary of State, which is pretty much the job he was born for, and 2) Obama is probably stronger on foreign policy than on domestic policy, so could use somebody with opposite strengths. (Clinton has ties to the South and the East and is perceived as stronger on domestic policy, so Richardson would work well as a running mate for her, providing real balance.)
Southern Democratic governors are few and far between and competent ones even less so. I'd be very happy with Mark Warner as a running mate for Obama, except that I don't think he'd do it because he's looking to run for the Senate and finish the job of turning Virginia blue. (And a term or two in the Senate would make him an excellent future candidate for President. Warner was the single best thing about Virginia politics during his tenure, which ended only because of the Commonwealth's absurd term limits statute that limits governors to a single term.) His successor, Tim Kaine, has only been in office three years and isn't as strong at interparty diplomacy, but I suppose he's feasible.
Bill Ritter (Colorado) also has the inexperience problem. I don't know enough about Mike Easley (North Carolina), but he sounds very good on paper. Ted Kulongoski (Oregon) sounds even better, especially as he served as a Marine in Vietnam.
There are probably some former governors I'm not thinking of, but the analytic process is more what I meant to write about than the details. No matter what, a Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton would tip the balance way too far towards McCain to make any sort of sense.
And, by the way, most of the buzz I've read has McCain looking towards Tim Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota, as his running mate. Jodi Rell of Connecticut might make an interesting choice, too, though the woman I've seen suggested is Sarah Palin of Alaska. I doubt the latter since she just announced that she is pregnant with her 5th child.
Both of them are one term Senators with zero zilch zip executive experience. (Sorry, Hillary, fucking power doesn't mean you know how to govern anything, no matter how beloved Eva Peron may have been.) The only way to persuade the people who aren't true believers or yellow dog Democrats is to have a running mate who actually has some relevant experience at running something besides his or her mouth. That means, ideally, a current or former governor or, perhaps, the mayor of a large enough city.
The mayor idea is not really workable since both candidates are perceived as urban themselves. So you need the governor of a state with a mixed economy. Ideally, somebody from the West or the South to provide geographic balance.
Obama could get away with more in this respect, I think. He's weak among Latinos, so Bill Richardson (who was, if you recall, the candidate I favored when he was running for President) would be an almost ideal choice. There are two strikes against him though: 1) if he's veep, he can't be Secretary of State, which is pretty much the job he was born for, and 2) Obama is probably stronger on foreign policy than on domestic policy, so could use somebody with opposite strengths. (Clinton has ties to the South and the East and is perceived as stronger on domestic policy, so Richardson would work well as a running mate for her, providing real balance.)
Southern Democratic governors are few and far between and competent ones even less so. I'd be very happy with Mark Warner as a running mate for Obama, except that I don't think he'd do it because he's looking to run for the Senate and finish the job of turning Virginia blue. (And a term or two in the Senate would make him an excellent future candidate for President. Warner was the single best thing about Virginia politics during his tenure, which ended only because of the Commonwealth's absurd term limits statute that limits governors to a single term.) His successor, Tim Kaine, has only been in office three years and isn't as strong at interparty diplomacy, but I suppose he's feasible.
Bill Ritter (Colorado) also has the inexperience problem. I don't know enough about Mike Easley (North Carolina), but he sounds very good on paper. Ted Kulongoski (Oregon) sounds even better, especially as he served as a Marine in Vietnam.
There are probably some former governors I'm not thinking of, but the analytic process is more what I meant to write about than the details. No matter what, a Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton would tip the balance way too far towards McCain to make any sort of sense.
And, by the way, most of the buzz I've read has McCain looking towards Tim Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota, as his running mate. Jodi Rell of Connecticut might make an interesting choice, too, though the woman I've seen suggested is Sarah Palin of Alaska. I doubt the latter since she just announced that she is pregnant with her 5th child.
