Who should be VP?

[BurtWorm]

Regardless of who wins the nomination? All candidates in the running for President now should be off limits, for the purposes of this discussion.

Bill Richardson of NM is my number one choice. He's a Westerner, Hispanic, experienced in federal govt. and executive branch govt. Are there any drawbacks? (He wasn't very nice to Dean <I'm for Dean>, but politics is frequently not very nice.)

Who else should be considered?

[poskonig]

1. Max!

Max Cleland would be an excellent choice for any candidate. He is from the south, progressive, and a war veteran.

[iamjoy]

2. VP Ideas

If not one of the current candidates...

Bob Graham - Fl
Very illustrious career as a two-term governor & three term senator. He says he wants to retire, but...Very solid on issues, matching what many Dems want & strong on security. May help in the South. Thing is, he has no charisma.

Dick Gephardt
Help in Mid-West. Strong Labor ties.

Hillary Clinton
Why not? She's very popular. The Republicans would be spitting mad. Don't see it helping electorally, though.

Ralph Nader
No kidding, if the party wants to show it isn't ignoring its liberal wing. Doubt he'd accept, though.

[eileen_d]

6. NO Clintons, please

Not that I am a "hater" but Hillary on the ticket would completely take the focus of the presidential candidate.

[Township75]

3. Graham...southern, from Florida, and I believe against the war!

!

[mountainvue]

4. VP

Max Cleland.:)

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

5. Evan Bayh of the DLC should be Vice President

He represents what the Democratic Party is truly about.

[BurtWorm]

7. Well...

:puke: to that!

[childslibrarian]

12. I second this

for strategic reasons

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

21. glad there is some agreement!

With Bayh as Veep, NO ONE can accuse the Democrats of being a bunch of liberals!

[MikeGalos]

8. Two possibles

Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) - Southern, expert on terrorism, well liked in Florida which would hurt not only Bush but any chances for a Jeb Bush candidacy in 2008

Governor Gary Locke (D-WA) - liberal, rising star in party, Asian-American which would show diversity without pushing the "I couldn't vote for one of them" button in closet bigots.

[thelocalkgb]

9. Bill Richardson...

Gov. Richardson would be a great choice, but I think he has repeatedly stated that he would not accept a running mate position because he feels a great responsibility to the state of NM to fill out the rest of his term.

I think Max Cleland would be a great choice.

Anyone would be better than the choice for 2000 - I don't know what Al Gore was thinking, Joe Lieberman didn't help that ticket in any way. :shrug:

[MurikanDemocrat]

10. Depends on the nominee

[politick]

11. I like Richardson, too

I thought he was gonna get the nod in 2000. He'd make a great choice demographically. I really don't know much about where he stands on issues, though. I just know he was the Energy Secy under Clinton, and now gov. of NM.

do you know anything about him?

(edited for grammar)

[OutlawCorporatePolls]

13. ron paul

but under dean and on a new 3rd party called "the tea party". go right and grab someone like ron paul and get busy pulling from both parties imho.

http://www.house.gov/paul/
http://www.house.gov/paul/bio.htm

[BurtWorm]

15. Paul is very close to being a racist.

No thank you!

[OutlawCorporatePolls]

17. yea right

nice try. its amazing how little so many people know. lol.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul68.html

[politick]

19. I just read the link

and it sounds a little... forced. The free market is the ultimate liberator? The federal gov't ignores goodwill among men? Hmm. I'm really not sure where I stand on federal dicta of the kind Ron Paul os arguing against, but I'm not sure his idea of the world is the operative one.

I do agree that this "collectivism" he refers to can be defeatist, and that there SHOULD be more emphasis on the individual, but not at the expense of people NOT in the majority.

Interesting. I'll have to read more on DR. Paul.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

22. the DemocraticParty is Pro-Free Market

The Democratic Party is a Capitalist Party. We believe in corporations as the best economic organization. Ron Paul would be great as VP. If not him, Evan Bayh!

[BurtWorm]

23. If not Ron Paul or Evan Bayh, how about the spirit of Ayn Rand?

True that in life she was not eligible because she was born in Russia, but her spirit was born in the US because it's where she died!

If not the spirit of Ayn Rand, how about the spirit of '76 or the spirit of St. Louis?

[politick]

18. how so?

I know I've definitely read stuff about him on FTW.com and elsewhere, and he seems like a good voice in opposition to Bush. I'm curious why you say that? What should I know about him?

[BurtWorm]

20. He's essentially a Libertarian.

Rack Jite used to have tons of outrageous Ron Paul quotes on his Website cataloguing the stupidities of the right wing. On the war, Paul has been faultless, but when he talks about taxes, education and race, he's a right wing as they come.

[BurtWorm]

14. He was the UN rep, and an architect of the Clinton North Korea

policy, which beats the Bush NK policy by several thousand miles.

[Indiana Democrat]

16. Evan Bayh.

[election_2004]

24. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones

She'll carry Ohio.

She'll energize the black vote.

She'll energize the women's vote.

She'll energize the progressive vote.

As a former prosecutor, she'll take down Cheney in the debates.