http://thepage.time.com/2008/07/07/cross-webb-off-obama-veep-list/ Just days after the old poll, this news merits a new one I think. Who do you like and why?
I don't know WTF this is about, but I love voting in stupid polls... I kid... I want Edwards... but for WHAT...?
For Obama's running mate, Swoly. I would have thought that was obvious. I took Chet Edwards off this list. He's no more serious a contender than Dodd, Kaine, Richardson or several others that aren't here. In retrospect, I wish I'd remembered to add Gephardt though. Maybe he'll be on the next one. It will be interesting to see how people vote with the frontrunner from the last poll out of the running. It certainly made my pick easier.
I read on one of those polling blogs that John Edwards wants the AG spot. That he sees himself as Bobby Kennedy to Obama's Jack. No one knows, but I like the story. Also, as I said, on those polling sites you read, they think Brian Schweitzer is a serious possibility. (LBJ to Obama's Jack? )
I think Obama has to really really seriously consider Sebelius from a purely political perspective. If he doesn't pick her, he leaves McCain a massive opening with women if he were to pick a woman - and many have been mentioned (Kay Bailey, the Alaska governor, EBay CEO, HP CEO, etc). For all those moderate women who really got excited about the possibility of Hillary, McCain gives them a very real option if he can convince people's he's moderate and not Bush III. It's stupid that VPs get picked for those kinds of reasons, but there's not a lot of ways Obama loses in November (in my opinion), but the opening with moderate women is one of them.
Sigh, first Clark now Webb... I'm terrible at this. Who should I knock off the list now? I'll pick Kathleen Sebelius as a possible way to pickup Kansas + women voters. (Sorry, Kathleen, I just killed your chance of ever becoming VP.)
That's a real bummer. What in god's name does the Obama campaign want from their VP? A seal of approval from Mother Teresa? I have news for them. She's dead. Impeach Bush/Cheney.
The Atlantic reported that Webb didn't want to go through the vetting and another rough campaign so soon after his last one. His request to take his name out of consideration came in response to notice he was going to be vetted. http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/07/obamas_team_begins_to_vet.php#more
I read the first link. My guess is that Webb threw his hands up and said, "**** you!" The "rough campaign" business sounds bogus. That he didn't want to go through the vetting process after finding out what it entailed (whatever that is) sounds like the real reason, at least to me. I'm not voting on a VP candidate this week out of protest! Impeach Bush/Cheney.
You really have an easy time blaming Obama for stuff, regardless of whether there's any evidence of wrongdoing. Where has there been even the slightest whisper, from anyone, that Obama's vetting process is in any way unusual? Answer: nowhere. Your beef here seems imaginary.
Also, it's a well known thing that Webb hates campaigning. I supported him for VP, but that was one of the reasons to doubt he'd be a great candidate. There are at least a few reasons to believe the Ambinder story and, so far, zero reasons to doubt it.
There is, by the way, a reasonable alternative to the Atlantic story, which was referenced by Halperin on Time's site and was postulated by serious black in the other thread. And that's that he wasn't actually a serious finalist. That would make sense to me given his past position on women in the military (especially). In that scenario, he might have taken his name out to save face. But there's zero reason to believe this happened because Obama's campaign has an unusually tough vetting process.
So every time I disagree with you about anything -- even when your post is made out of whole cloth and in opposition to the facts -- you're going to revert to this stuff. Tired. But I got it. Thanks.
Although I prefer Sebelius, I think Biden's got a slight edge over anyone else on this list -- with Bayh probably right behind him.
Problem with Biden, Bayh, Clinton and Edwards is that they all voted for the war. Which means they are all either chickens or morons. I don't want either a heartbeat away from the presidency. I don't know that Obama is going to pick a Senator, but if he does, I highly doubt it is someone that voted for the war. Sebelius, Kaine, Bill Bradley, and Gore didn't vote on it (because they were not in the Senate). Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown was one of the 126 Democrats in the House to vote against it. Jack Reed was among the 21 Democrats to vote against it in the Senate. I could easily see Jack Reed take it. He looks like a vice president. He's short, but he was a paratrooper who went to West Point and Harvard Law. And even though I had never heard of him before recently, he appears to have a really good voting record. A safe pick which would do no harm.
