Veep shortlist
There’s a discussion going on at TalkLeft about the ten most likely people to be offered the chance to run as John Kerry’s veep. According to The Financial Times, the list looks like this:
- John Edwards
- Bill Richardson
- Dick Gephardt
- Bill Nelson
- Evan Bayh
- Bob Graham
- Tom Vilsack
- Wesley Clark
- John McCain
- Max Cleland
My thoughts on this list are as follows.
John Edwards
I think Edwards would contribute a lot to the ticket, but he wouldn’t be my first choice. The only negative I can think of for Edwards is that the opposition will try to tar him as a “trial lawyer,” as if familiarity with the law is an automatic disqualifier.
Bill Richardson
Richardson would be my first choice, but he has indicated that he is not interested in the job. It would be fun to watch Richardson and Cheney debate energy policies, though. ("Here’s my plan, Dick, what’s yours?")
Dick Gephardt
Gephardt is probably the only candidate on this list who would actually diminish my enthusiasm for this election. Gephardt is a good guy, but I think he would be a drag on the ticket, like Lieberman was in 2000. Whatever appeal Gephardt may have had evaporated after the Iowa caucus, so why tap him?
Bill Nelson
Don’t know much about him. Could be good for some votes in Florida, but can he guarantee the state’s electoral votes? That’s far from clear at this point. Moving on…
Evan Bayh
Fiscally conservative, former two-term governor of a state in the Midwest, Bayh is my second choice—or first, if you consider that Richardson is really not an option.
Bob Graham
There seems to be no evidence that Graham can carry Florida, and he was the first of the Democratic candidates to drop out of the race, so he would be closer to the bottom of my list.
Tom Vilsack
Strong voice for the Democratic party. Would not be a bad choice, but he is relatively unknown (to the American public).
Wesley Clark
Excellent defense credentials, but if he was really the type of guy who would accept the No. 2 spot, he probably would have done it back when Dean was hinting at the prospect of teaming up. After all, it was pretty clear to me that Clark got started too late to have a viable candidacy of his own, yet he resisted the opportunity to be someone else’s VP. Will it be different if the offer comes from Kerry? I don’t know, but I would prefer to see Clark doing Powell’s job rather than Cheney’s.
John McCain
I really like the idea of a unity ticket, but a Kerry/McCain pairing is about as unlikely as Bush announcing that he no longer wants to be president, so we’ll have to forget about this possibility. Besides, not enough Democrats really mean it when they say that they will support “anybody but Bush”; a lot of them would be deeply offended by a Kerry/McCain ticket. The Nader supporters, of course, would love it. ("See, there really is no difference—you’ve got Republicans on both of the other tickets! Vote for Nader instead!")
Max Cleland
It would be an ironic turn of events (and a powerful slap in the face) to see the guy that Bush put out of a job return to put Bush out of a job, but I’m not really sure how much appeal Cleland has with voters. If you want another vet on the ticket, try for Clark or McCain before asking Cleland.
Also, although he did not make this list, I rather like the idea of tapping Virginia Gov. Mark Warner for this position. Sure, it’s a long shot, but tapping Warner could provide Kerry with an even greater lead in neighboring Ohio, which is a must-win state for both campaigns.
How about you? Have any thoughts on the short list? Other candidates that you feel strongly about, one way or the other?
