Veepstakes!

[DeepModem Mom]

WP political blog, "The Fix," by Chris Cillizza
The Friday Line: Veepstakes!

....Conversations with a variety of operatives who are in a position to have a general sense of the veepstakes have produced the lists you will find below....

REPUBLICANS....

(NOTE: The Republicans are, number 5 to number 1, Mitt Romney, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Rob Portman, South Dakota Senator John Thune, and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.)

***

DEMOCRATS

5. Sam Nunn: It's hard to argue with Nunn's place as one of the pre-eminent Democratic thinkers on foreign policy and defense issues....

4. Tim Kaine: Kaine's great strengths in this process are who he is and where's he from. A former missionary and a man who openly talks about his faith, Kaine could help Obama bridge the "God gap" that has emerged in recent presidential elections. He is also the highest ranking elected official in an emerging battleground state and his popularity coupled with Obama's appeal to African American voters statewide and white voters in northern Virginia could make the contest for the Commonwealth a barnburner. Kaine's problem is that he has spent just three years as governor (and four years as lieutenant governor before that) and has almost no foreign policy experience.

3. Hillary Clinton: In the wake of Clinton's speech in Indianapolis on Tuesday night, many within the party thought she was opening the door to the idea of sharing the ticket with Obama. Her rhetoric over the past 48 hours, however, particularly her comments about "white voters," may well quash the "Dream Ticket" talk before it begins in earnest. While Clinton has broad and deep support within the Democratic Party, picking her as vice president would seem to run counter to Obama's change message. That said, stranger things have most definitely happened.

2. Ted Strickland: While Obama may not feel compelled to name Clinton to the ticket, he is well aware of the need to offer an olive branch of sorts to the backers of the New York Senator. Strickland, the first term governor of Ohio, may well fit the bill. Not only is he an active and high profile Clinton supporter, he is also the popular chief executive of a state that Obama must find a way to win if he hopes to be president. Strickland, who represented a conservative southern Ohio congressional district before winning the governorship in 2006, could also help Obama deal with lingering doubts about his candidacy among white working class voters.

1. Kathleen Sebelius: The second-term Kansas governor earns the top spot on the Line because of her ability to further bolster Obama's strengths while not exacerbating his weaknesses. Picking Sebelius would affirm Obama's core message of change and would give Obama's run even more historic weight. Sebelius' electoral success in ruby red Kansas would also echo Obama's pledge to broaden the playing field in the fall and ensure that the party is competitive in every state. The one knock on Sebelius is the dearth of foreign policy credentials on her resume. But she has six years of strong executive experience and could be the kind of political partner Obama needs in the fall.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/05/the_friday_line_veepstakes_1.html

[Jane Austin]

1. 1. Ugh 2. Ugh 3. Ugh 4. Ugh 5. Ugh

How about somebody committed, smart, gutsy and emminently qualified.

Chris Dodd.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. I agree. I'm not into the idea of little known ticket-balancers as VP nominees.

Not only does a "heavyweight" make a stronger ticket, IMO, but they're more likely to be, under tragic circumstances, (like Dodd) more qualified Presidents. I think Al Gore offers a good example -- apparently chosen as an asset to the administration and not as a ticket-balancer, and his contributions were many, and ongoing even today.

[Just ShootMe]

10. Iraq War Resolution . . . Yea or Nay . . . Dodd: "Yea"

Integrity, wisdom, perception; Dodd is missing these qualities. When a 100,000 American families with loved ones in the military depended on Sen. Dodd to make a crucial decision affecting their lives, he failed them. Had he been in my employ, I would have fired him.

[deadmessengers]

2. Nunn would get Obama right over that "experience" hump. n/t

[Just ShootMe]

11. When the going got tough, Nunn ran away.

Sam Nunn, the former senator from Georgia and for many years chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, may have some attributes which sound appealing for election purposes. However, Nunn has a good bit of conservative baggage which should not be rewarded with such an important leadership position. And remember, the well positioned and popular (in Georgia) Nunn retired from his seat when Democrats lost their majority in the Senate; the seat went to Democrat Cleland, but Cleland's one term incumbency couldn't hold the seat for Democrats against a surging tide of changing party affiliation in an overwhelmingly conservative state.
Perhaps appointing Nunn Secretary of Defense, which would utilize Sen. Nunn's area of technical knowledge, would provide the best benefits. Leaking that appointment before the election would pull over some swing votes in Georgia.

[Mojambo]

4. Nunn's the most attractive of a real uninspiring slate. n/t

[Jane Austin]

5. Where is Nunn on Democratic social issues?

Gay rights? Choice? Public schools?

I want to repeat - CHRIS DODD!

[Mojambo]

6. Admittedly, he's nowhere on those issues

But I don't think a Veep really needs to be square on those issues, because he's really not going to be able to impact on them anyway. And it's not like Nunn would be our nominee in 2016.

You'd pick him for his foreign policy credibility and nothing more.

Hey, I'd prefer a Clark or Biden or Dodd, but of the people listed in this thread, Nunn's the best of a bad lot.

[rcsl1998]

7. Sam Nunn? The Creator Of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' - That Sam Nunn???

This is basically a HORRIBLE 'top five' particularly Nunn - Hopefully it only reflects Chris Cillizza's wish list and not Senator Obama's...

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Probably not Cillizza's wish list, but maybe that of "operatives" he talked to? Thanks...

for your post. I hadn't thought of an agenda being behind some of these suggestions/choices.

[Just ShootMe]

9. Give it a thought . . . James Earl Carter.

The first branch on the decision tree for Sen. Obama is whether or not his choice will be restricted to the best choice for the country or whether there are additional specifications (i.e. election strategy, personal compatibility, etc.).
I'm curious to see how much 'out of the box' thinking will occur in this selection process.
After my usual perusal of strategically attractive candidates, slicing and dicing the pros and cons, a synaptic spark lit the space within. Jimmy Carter.
President Carter has, by almost anyone's account, performed the most effective and beneficial post administration work of any president in our times. His international esteem would provide an almost instantaneous image change for the U.S. in virtually every corner of the globe.
As the vice-president has little constitutional power, the job description has mostly consisted of representing the country at foreign events of state and being a PR person for the President's initiatives (and, of course, in the current administration being the president's brain), thus we should take into consideration other qualifications than has been heretofore been included in this choice.
Carter has been on the right side of the Iraq issue. He is there with most Democrats on both domestic and foreign issues.
He would be a seasoned advisor for a first term president. He wouldn't pose any threats to the aspirations of other up and coming idealists looking towards 2016. He would help in pulling in some Georgia voters, which might just help tip Georgia into the Blue (GA is the ninth most populous state).
Give it some thought.

[King Bacon Fat]

12. Jimmy Carter shouldn't even be eligible...

...because he should have been re-elected in 1980. But America was swayed by a B-movie actor who spewed forth glib answers to serious issues and out went one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century.

Personally, I say let Obama make up his own damn mind, and may he fare better than Kerry and Gore did in picking running mates. I don't think Edwards added the right element that Kerry needed in 2004 and the less said about Gore's pick in 2000, the better. Balancing the ticket hasn't been properly done by Democrats since 1988!

[The Takeaway]

13. The 2008 Veepstakes Game on Facebook

Kathleen Sebelius is leading The 2008 Veepstakes game as well (http://apps.facebook.com/veepstakes), so it looks like people on Facebook agree with Cillizza.