President Obama's Vice President Should Be

Tammy Baldwin?

Barbara Boxer?

Kathleen Sebelius?

Other ideas?

Please vote.

He has a number of good people to choose from..and that is a good thing. I really think he needs to emphasize his new kind of politics.. Therefore reaching out to the West, or crossing the aisle, or picking someone like Schweitzer who sounds better the more I hear about him...

Sebelius would be good--but I think one barrier at a time might make sense right now.

there are a lot of women desperate to vote for a woman after the HRC campaign? Look at NOW, which agrees with HRC on nothing but rewrote its agenda to suit her and backed her.

have you ever heard Republicans say "one thing at a time"?

and approach to politics. Edwards has remained coy about endorsing either candidate. So I think Edwards is out of consideration. If he cannot bring himself to endorse Obama, perhaps he doesn't "get" the fact that Obama wants to bring change to D.C. It also makes me nervous that Edwards has not stood up to Hillary and her bigot-pandering.

I was originally an Edwards supporter but, at this point, his unwillingness to take a stand against Hillary's Bush/Rove tactics make me glad he didn't win the nomination.

??

she will not go over well here because she is a lesbian.

seriously, are you sure we can't handle a lesbian VP?

a lot of Obama's supporters can't.

I once started a thread about her as VP and got jumped on by the "liberals."

I loves me some Tammy Badlwin

nt

International diplomatic success, aware of Hispanic issues, cabinet experience,Energy wonk, you couldn't ask for a better guy

The beard has to go though, Bill

the first to stand openly against the clinton machine
and they went after him all they could too

with national-security creds who can counter the GOP bullshit effectively without overshadowing Obama or becoming a liability. Oops, forgot Joe Biden.

If Obama does this he will absolutely lose the GE.

this is not the independent party. if Obama wants to run as an independent, then he should do so now because if he puts a republican on his ticket, I'm outta here. I will not be voting for him and, as I noted on another thread, there are MILLIONS of democrats as well as greens who will not vote for him.

it is really that simple.

As far as vp? Richardson, imo. He would pull in the hispanic vote, western states, and would not be beholden to the south.

There was a lot of that going around in the '60s and I never took my "conform or die" meds.

what's with the older white male warmonger push?
shouldn't that be on Democratic Overground?

Besides which, that would give Ahnold a chance to appoint a rethug to her Senate seat. How about Janet Napolitano? She is very popular in Arizona, a neighboring state to the battleground state of New Mexico. She could possibly even put Arizona into play.

other than Hillary of course. Someone those feminist Hillary supporters can truly be proud of.

She is on her second term, so a promotion to the Vice Presidency would be good. She would make a great presidential candidate, and bring executive experience to the White House.

And if you are busy, maybe Tom Harkin isn't a bad choice.

we ain't gonna rock the boat!!

Obama's weakest points in a general election is among white males and in small towns/mid size cities. In the state by state counting that Obama would need in order to win a general election this would play out very differently than exclusive Democratic Party caucuses and primaries in places like Wyoming or North Carolina. For Sen. Obama to win I cannot see how he can do it without broadening his appeal in the West, the South and borderstates. And I do not see how Hillary would be anything but a hindrance. So from my point of view, the V.P. candidate needs to be a populist Southerner or Westerner or border stater who appeals to white males and who would have appeal in small towns and mid size cities.

My personal favorite would be Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana. He is a populist rancher from Montana who is generally populist and progressive on most issues - except gun control where he is strongly supported by the NRA. That speaks for his region. And frankly that would remove a huge electorial liability in the South, the West and in rural and small town America. However he is a strong environmentalist and was vehement vocal opponent of the Iraq War even calling for withdrawing the Montana National Guard from Iraq.

--- And get this he lived and worked in Riyahd for seven years and speaks perfect fluent Arabic. Just imagine what it would do for the world and for the interest of peace in the Middle East if the President of the United States had the name Barak Hussein Obama and the Vice President spoke perfect fluent Arabic! I happen to spend a lot of time in the Middle East. I cannot even begin to describe how much it would mean if the Vice President of United States could speak with the Arab world in their own language. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this would have almost revolutionary potential for the cause of peace.

And take a look at the image that he portrays that helped him sweep Republican Montana with 70% of the vote -- would this sell in small town American and among white working class males and in the West and the South and border states?





From the actblue website: "Brian Schweitzer is a different brand of politician who has earned our support based on his willingness to speak truth, and let the chips fall where they may.
A businessman first, he understands Main Street issues at his core, fighting for lower taxes, better healthcare and education, and the creation good-paying jobs.
A soil scientist by education, Brian lived in Saudi Arabia for seven years, speaks Arabic, and created the largest dairy farm in the Middle East.
As Governor, he has become the nation’s strongest voice for sensible energy policies in an effort to reduce our dependence on foreign oil while protecting the environment from the dangers of global warming.
Brian understands that energy security will create new jobs and technology for export, expanding our tax-base, reducing our trade deficit, and saving our environment.
An opponent of the Iraq invasion from the start, he further understands that you can’t win a war when you’re funding both sides of it."

there was a "Montana Democrat" on the ticket.

It may not be an easy decision with all these good candidates. But I really believe in going west of the Mississippi..challenging the GOP...perhaps being a bit unconventional.

I DON'T like his gun policies, but I think I could live with it. He seems to complement Obama's message well and seems like a good, regular, "hard working" guy.

I think a Western or Southern governor would be a great choice. I was thinking Napolitano because of the women's vote, but Schweitzer's credentials sound impeccable.

Sebelius is an interesting pick if for no other reason that it puts McCain in a terrible conundrum.

Does he counter with someone from the Mid West or a woman? He's kinda fucked either way.


It will be interesting to see who announces first.

..and under the delusion it might help him in Minnesota. Pawlenty looks young, sounds reasonable to hide the horror of what he represents.

We'll need a Pawlenty sound bite that Ed Schultz plays from time to time for commercials.

which we in Minnesota know quite well. But he's fairly young, good-looking, and *seems* both pleasant and reasonable. In fact, he's a fanatical drown the government in the bathtub right-wing wack job who'd rather risk collapsing freeway bridges than actually pay for basic infrastructure repairs. But he's been living in McCain's pants for at least a year, hoping for the VP offer.

:puke:

oh, you already said that

Boxer -- strong LONG foreign policy record in the Senate, voted against the IWR, good to unite the party (very popular, and disappointed women who are likely to be numerous, can be happy), none of the baggage of HRC, strong on Greenhouse, other pluses.

I definitely do NOT see the advantage of picking someone like Wes Clark or someone to try to coopt McCain. Better to have someone who will unite the Democrats and many nonpartisan voters around a contrasting vision from McCain. It would be hard to find someone better at uniting the mass base of the Democratic Party than Barbara Boxer.

Boxer's a non-starter.

She would be replaced by a Republican governor if she left the Senate.

She also adds nothing, electorally, to the ticket. She's 68 years old. She's Jewish. She's a "Marin liberal". What state does that help carry?

with Hillary supporters AND liberals - which covers just about everybody, doesn't it?

exactly

I like the idea of picking a woman VP candidate, but Boxer or Feinstein doesn't work - I don't want to give Ahnold a chance to appoint a Rethug senator.

If he is going to pick a woman I think it should be Napolitano or Sebelius. If not, I like Clark and Schwitzer. His VP shouldn't be from a blue state or have a history in Washington.

list.

I like her, but she would be replaced by a Rethuglican.

Tony Zini's name thrown out there.

We are in the midst of a war. McCain has strong military credentials.

Clark? Webb?

i'm starting to feel ashamed of having started this

what war?

who's we?

which party is this?

Must pick white Southerner with military background. Not my preference, but that's what needs to happen to tackle McLame.

but i don't want to tackle him

i want to put him out of the game

which means appealing to the sort of voters who will vote against him and turning them out to do so and fighting suppression and fraud, which General Pseudo Dem and Major General Screw Up ain't gonna help with

Speaking as a white straight angry male southerner, if Obama picks a rightwing warmonger, I'll oppose him, and it won't matter because so will a lot of other people

We need Webb in the Senate. General Clark has the military and anti-Iraq war credentials, and he is from Arkansas. I would prefer him as Secretary of Defense, personally, but he would be a good VP choice.

:evilgrin:

Seen by many.
Not real.

Perfect.

Sebelius is a Democratic governor in a Republican state, and so has obviously pulled in significant numbers of Republican and independent voters. Heck, she flipped a former state GOP chairman — Mark Parkinson — to become a Democrat and her lieutenant governor.
An Obama-Sebelius ticket would be more appealing to moderate Republicans and independents and plays into Obama’s message of tearing down walls between voters, parties, etc.
The major drawback is that there would be little foreign policy experience in an Obama-Sebelius pairing, but that may matter little. It seems the mood of voters is to re-focus on domestic problems.

Wen Ho Lee would record the best campaign commercials, we just haven't heard yet where the father of the guy who carried North Carolina so well last time worked, and Virginians are so happy with their new warmongering DINO's courageous stand against funding the occupation

and I can tell by your suggestions that you really don't know how to do that

thanks for playing, though

If Obama is going to pick for national security he needs to do it in a subtle manner so that it doesn't appear that the Vice President is going to be running the country. We've had 8 years of that and it didn't work out too well. Richardson will bring the Hispanic vote and that will overshadow his national security credentials, which can be brought up if Obama needs it.

He would be a good candidate also. There are so many good choices out there. It will be a tough decision for Obama.

vs McCain. Ambassador to the UN is not a "security" position that people are going to think "this guy can help keep us safe".

To have any authority against McCain on that issue they NEED a person who has a bit of the "been there, done that".

Wesley Clark as a general covers the bill.

My personal favorite, Richard Clarke (former counter terrorism czar) does this as well.

We need someone who can stand up and say, "I have seen what goes on and McCain/????? don't know what they are talking about"

Richardson has negotiated with Saddam Hussein. UN Ambassador has all of the highest security clearances and is a key advisor to the President. He's not as high up as Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, or National Security Advisor but other than that it's one of the top jobs.

Richard Clarke is a career bureaucrat, not a politician. He'd be wonderful in Obama's administration but not as Vice President.

John McCain doesn't really have foreign policy experience and certainly not more than Richardson has. Foreign policy experience is a plus for the ticket but Obama can hold his own against McCain. And again he doesn't need the appearance that his Vice President is going to be running the country. Picking a career bureaucrat like Richard Clarke would highlight Obama's perceived weaknesses.

They would see Richardson as nothing more than a UN guy (which isn't loved by many people) and certainly would not consider it more experience than McCain. There is a large difference between someone who negotiated with Hussein and someone who has been immersed in these issues for years and years and is a war hero.

I also think that Obama does need to give the appearance that the VP will have certain areas of responsibility, since many people fear he lacks the experience to deal with some of these issues. His potential naivety will be a highlight of the gop campaign. You want it front and center that there is someone there who can take handle these issues.

...that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that she brazenly lied about nonexistent sniper fire.

She's not getting anywhere near the White House again. Get used to it.

About the best foreign policy person in the country today.

Non Partisan (for a new kinda politics and to take away the impact of a possible McCain/Lieberman pairing).. Clarke served under Reagan, Bush, Clinton and little bush until he outed little bush for bungling 9/11 and Iraq.

not to be overly ghoulish/pessimistic, but whoever is picked for VP needs to be capable of stepping up if the horrid and unthinkable happens. for the first time in an age, whoever we pick needs to be someone who is more than a nice face with moderate credentials to "balance" the ticket.

I've been an Obama/Edwards woman from the start, but like some have pointed out, I'm not only disappointed he didn't pick someone to endorse, I also doubt he'd accept the role. he's got a sick wife to watch out for right now.

and to defeat McCain.