We’ll find out tonight whether Barack Obama will survive to fight another day, but on the off chance that we won’t I want to do this quick piece now before it is too late. I just want to do a little speculation about who I expect Obama and Clinton to select as their running mates, and who they could select to bring some unity or reassurance or regional balance to the party and ticket.
First I’ll tackle who I’d expect them to pick and, obviously, they are more likely to pick people that supported their candidacy than people who did not, or who stayed neutral.
- Obama
1. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas- this pick makes sense for so many reasons. Many woman will be disappointed if Hillary Clinton loses the nomination, but they’ll feel a lot better if Obama reaches out and selects a highly qualified female running mate that has executive experience. Selecting someone from Kansas has a feel-good tie-in because Obama’s mother was born and raised there. And choosing someone from a blood-red state sends a message that Obama is reaching out to all voters and intending to compete everywhere. Plus, Sebelius endorsed him.
2. Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia- Kaine endorsed Obama early, will be term-limited out of a job soon, and comes from a state that is definitely trending blue. However, Kaine would be controversial because of his murky record on reproductive rights. Many progressives would take it as a poke in the eye and evidence that Obama is unprogressive at heart.
3. Fmr. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina- Edwards has run for the office before and his selection would be met by a collective roll of the media’s eyes. But it would help heal over at least some of the lingering wounds of a bruising primary. It would please most progressives, and Obama and Edwards would make an attractive and energetic tandem.
4. Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio- Both Hillary and Obama could make this selection for obvious reasons. I believe he has endorsed Clinton.
Clinton
1. Sen. Evan Bayh- Bayh is kind of the quintessential Clintonian politician. Bayh was the chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) from 2001-5, and he just bleeds New Democrat. Indiana is a traditionally Republican state that Clinton might hope to turn blue.
2. Fmr. Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa- Vilsack preceded Harold Ford Jr. as the chair of the DLC, serving from 2005-2007. He was an energetic supporter of Hillary campaign in Iowa, and fits nicely into the Clintonian mold.
3. Fmr. Rep. Harold Ford, Jr.- Ford is more likely to take over the Democratic National Committee from Howard Dean, but he might be offered as a kind of Clarence Thomas-esque peace offering to the African-American community. Hopefully, the Clintons aren’t this stupid.
4. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico- Richardson is another New Democrat who owes his career to the Clintons. His, so far, refusal to endorse Obama, his experience, his state, and his appeal among Hispanics all make him an attractive option for Clinton.
Those are the picks that I see as most likely. Here are some more interesting picks:
- Obama
1. Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana- Schweitzer is a progressive favorite and a political moderate at the same time. Selecting him would reinforce the Democrats intention to compete everywhere and especially in the West.
2. Fmr. Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey- Bradley is simultaneously popular among progressives and on Wall Street, and has a reputation for wonkishness on policy and seeing the big picture. He’d be a nice balance and complement to Obama’s style.
3. Gov. Brad Henry of Oklahoma- Henry is a popular, if conservative, governor in one of Obama’s weakest states. Selecting Henry would make all the Blue Dog Democrats feel better about things and it would add some regional balance as well as showing that Obama intends to compete for every state.
Clinton
1. Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas- I think this is a little too much Arkansas, personally, but it is a matchup a lot of people speculate about.
2. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida- Nelson is a New Democrat from an important state who has endorsed Hillary.
3. Gov. John Baldacci of Maine- He has endorsed Clinton and he might make an attractive running mate that has executive experience.
Anyway, that’s what I see right now. What do you think?
Hillary putting up Harold Ford would be the absolute WORST thing she could do, in the eyes of black America.
Their next step would be trying to win the nomination without African American support.
Terry McCauliffe is slick but he’s not stupid.
Let’s hope you’re right, but they definitely want Harold to have a big job so he can go places. Harold is their hero, who ran the best campaign of ’06.
Really? They think Harold Ford ran a good campaign in ’06? Or you do?
and does not try with everything she’s got to get Obama on the ticket then she is a total fool. She ought to offer him anything he demands, including much more responsibility than any preceding VP has ever had.
That ticket would be unbeatable.
If Obama wins…Clinton will not accept a VP spot.
Bradley’s an interesting choice, if only because he is one of the very few national white Dem pols…the only one, maybe…who has ever spent any appreciable time dealing with African-Americans as not only peers but as models and superiors. He also is a brilliant man, and do not discount that. He could actually think on the same level as Obama, and off the top of my head I cannot think of any national Dem of whom that could be said except perhaps Mario Cuomo.
Edwards?
Give me a BREAK!!!
I am sure that Obama sees through his front and realizes that the voters will do so as well.
We shall see.
AG
P.S. If Obama takes NY…it’s over.
Bet on it.
Roland Martin has a commentary piece saying what I’ve been trying to explain to people wondering about a VP choice for the Clintons:
If Obama puts Edwards on his ticket, that just may be enough for me not to vote.
why?
Q.E.D. (sorry for the source but it’s the only place where I can find the actual quote)
I already held my nose and voted a ticket with him on it and I didn’t like it. I’ve never liked or trusted that man and this 180 degree conversion of his sealed it. I’m just not buying into it.
We forget that about Dollar Bill. For a gangly Ivy-educated white boy out of Missouri, Bill Bradley probably has the most multi-cultural perspective of any national democrat.
I’ll never forget a line from his convention speech in 96 – race continues to be an American dilemma – Who else would quote Gunnar Myrdal in a political speech?
He was also an early backer of Corey Booker as Mayor of Newark -another African American reform Dem who took a lot of crap from the existing power structure.
I’m hoping Bradley ends up as SecState or SecTreas if not VP. I’m so glad to see him back in the national limelight.
He’s one of our lost treasures.
That will be the reaction of a good chunk of the Party, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Obama were to ask Colin Powell to run with him on a unity ticket, the whole Post-Partisan thing, especially in McCain is the GOP nominee. Powell’s introductory speech would be based on a simple premise: “I helped to enable and engineer this mess, so I am asking you for an opportunity to take responsibility by helping Barack Obama fix this mess.”
It would be a huge STFU to the Right, but it would enrage certain sectors of the Democratic Party, so I don’t know if they’d have the stones to actually pull the trigger on this one. It is, however, a logical option if not a totally viable option.
TWO black candidates on the same ticket?
I think not.
AG
According to conventional wisdom I would agree, but a lot of what Obama has done so far defies conventional wisdom, and I believe that he would say to those who argue that we can’t win with two Black candidates on the ticket, “Yes We Can!“
But that’s me.
Colin Powell is a treasonous apparatchik.
He really shouldn’t interrupt his slow right to the Hague with such an honor. The world would be appalled.
that’s a ticket that would convince me to not vote. So far I’m swearing to vote Democratic no matter who, although the Clinton-Ford ticket mentioned above would make me vomit on the ballot. But that lying sack of shit Powell would be too much to take.
Thankfully I don’t think Obama is nearly that stupid.
BooMan – you don’t mention Gov. Napolitano (AZ), why not?
I wish the GOP nominee was going to be Huck. I’m honestly concerned about the idea of Obama getting assasinated if elected. If he was running against someone we know he would be able to cream, then he could do something really crazy to protect himself and slap the GOP in the face. Nobody shoots you when Feingold or Kucinich is next in line.
it would be an historic ticket and would keep the Obama fan base on board.
Obama should consider nominating a woman, possibly Barbara Boxer, that way he could keep many of the women who will be disappointed if HRC does not get the nomination.
Obama would be isolated and marginalized in a Clinton Restoration. They wouldn’t let him do anything, much less take over the country while Clinton is out of it.
Bill would be more or less Veep at any rate, unless Hill told him to BTFU.
He would be vice president in name only.
However, not like Cheney is vice president in name only.
Obama might also pick Sen. Webb from Virginia. Don’t know if he would accept the job.
Who do you think keeps floating those rumors.
I hope Obama would know better than to pick a senator with a 49% approval rating in his own state and a ton of baggage. But who knows.
If Hillary is the nominee, I think she needs to get Obama on board. That ticket is unbeatable, and would likely leave the White House in Democratic hands for 16 years.
If it’s Obama, I think you’re right with the most likely candidate being Sebelius (though I was quite unimpressed with her response to the SOTU).
btw, did anyone else catch Hillary on Letterman last night? I have to give it to her, she was great.
After repeatedly attacking him as unqualified and inexperienced, how could she present him as ready to step in if she dies? Although, she is brazen enough to deny ever attacking him.
I think it’s a moot point, because that question won’t come up.
For McCain it might, because he’s ancient. But Clinton and Obama are both young enough that it would take an assassination (or freak accident) for the Veep to ascend, and while there is certainly a history of assassinations in this country, speculation of future attempts is hardly a part of mainstream discourse.
I’d argue that Clinton’s painting of Obama as inexperienced would bolster the logic of picking him as her VP. It says that she was sincere in that criticism, and that she’s looking to heal any post primary divide.
Out of Obama’s own mouth we heard, Oprah!!
o/t, I’m going to miss the stories like this morning’s coming across from TPM about Ted Steven’s pocket book Bill Allen/VECO’s sexual romps with a teenager named BAMBI TYREE. Poor girl, with a name like that what choices did she have in life?
As much as I would like to see Edwards on the ticket, someone (I forget who) made the suggestion the other day that Edwards could be appointed Attorney General, and I really, really liked that idea, far better than Edwards as veep. We need someone passionate, principled, and progressive as AG, and Edwards would be the best person for the job since Bobby Kennedy.
The GOP VP pick interests me far more than the Dem pick, because McCain’s age makes it fairly likely for him to die in office. If his veep is sufficiently vile, it will mean that if Clinton gets the nomination, I’ll be forced to vote for her in the general. And I fear that McCain, in an effort to reach out to the base, will pick someone more than sufficiently vile to make another Clinton presidency preferable to the alternative.
The GOP VP will be Huckabee, regardless of who actually wins the nomination, to secure the social conservatives’ support.
That’s what I fear most.
but with McCain’s age and ill health, the Huckster would have a VERY good chance of becoming Pres. The fundies would love that but I don’t think Wall Street and the less rabid sector of the GOP would go for it at all.
However, I’ve been wrong before…
Not anybody cares but I’d very much like to see an Obama/Feingold ticket.
And that would be a pretty good ticket.
I’ll jump right over to Sec of State and suggest Nancy Soderberg…
she’s really sharp.
Yeah, everybody’s short list. I see she has a new book coming out in July, “The Prosperity Agenda”, What the world wants from America and what we need in return.
She’s got to be a bit torn in this election with solid ties to both the Clintons and Ted Kennedy.
This is like being held, jumping up and down in a glass boxed room, you can see the solutions but can’t get anyone to hear you.
I don’t think Kathleen Sebelius would be good choice for Obama. She isn’t ready for the national stage and kinda reminds me of a female John Kerry. He needs a person with more energy.
Sibelius or Kaine for Obama.
AG, then later SCOTUS for Edwards. Under Obama, of course. Hillary will appoint someone in Wal-Mart’s hip pocket. And whoever (probably Richardson or Clark) she picks as VP will be symbolic only. Bill will be the real VP.
If Kaine were picked and won, the Republican Lt Gov would take over
besides you cannot campaign for VP and be Gov and the same time
You can campaign. You just have to resign if you are elected.
Obama won’t need, or want, to break any more new ground.
He’ll pick a bland, white male from the South or Southwest. National security creds a big plus.
Gen. Wesley Clark meets those criteria, plus:
heals wounds with the Clinton camp
stands ready to stomp down any military macho stuff McCain might pull
has executive experience
Obama-Clark.