Possible VP Sebelius in Iowa Aug. 21

Sebelius in Iowa for Obama

If Iowans want to see the future Democratic Party vice presidential candidate, they could have that opportunity Aug. 21 in central Iowa. We got word this morning that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will be in the state for four events in support of presumptive presidential nominee (the presumptive will finally be dropped next week after the Aug. 24-28 convention) Barack Obama.Sebelius is frequently mentioned in the veepstakes (crud, I finally broke down and typed that phrase) to pad the Obama ticket. She could perhaps placate the women in the party who still wish they had Hillary Clinton on the national ticket.

More here: http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/blogs/politically_speaking/?p=583

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It's possible Sebelius will be acting as new Obama VP after getting VP nod on Wednesday Aug 20 in VA. It's plausible. Sebelius would be a surprise exciting pick and it gives me goosebumps just thinking of it. I think she would be superb! I like it.

But I don't see what Sebelius brings to the ticket, honestly.

Sebelius is the daughter of popular former Ohio governor John J. Gilligan.

is:

- she cuts the legs out from under what remains of the pseudo-feminist (read: rabidly pro-Clinton) critique of Obama

- she grounds the ticket with so-called heartland voters, as she's a popular D governor in an R state

- she's not a great public speaker, but she's smart and thoughtful and would add additional emphasis to the idea of Obama as the smart, thoughtful candidate

- she's pragmatic in similar ways to Obama

As stated above, I'm not a devoted Sebelius fan, but I've had a gut feeling about her getting the nod for a while. I could, of course, be wrong (something that usually happens anywhere from 5 to 50 times a day).

individual posts, by which mechanism the wide majority of your posts generally and this one as a representative example would be so recommended.

Dammit, man. You're good.

I appreciate your possible misgivings on Gov. Sebelius but especially love your analysis.

but I should have acknowledged that I may be way off-base about this. I think it may be one of those cases - as most VP selections, probably - where the preponderance of pros and cons favors the pro heavily. If Sebelius has baggage - and no doubt she had some as far as someone somewhere is concerned - I haven't heard of any. She's could well be the sort of out-of-nowhere choice that would dominate the news cycle between the announcement and the convention ("CNN Special Report: Who is Sebelius?").

I'm confident he'll make a good choice even if I don't like it. I trust his judgment and instincts a lot more than I trust mine, and I haven't felt that way about a politician for a long time.

Obama's, only that he's in the political limelight of a campaign. The two of your together would likely have a lot to discuss in common, and IMO on the same level.

Agree -- his instincts will tell him which candidate would help him the most.

Sebelius isn't my first choice, but I'd be pleased enough if he chose her. A blue governor in a red state, a Catholic, and with connections both in Kansas and in Ohio, where her father served as Democratic governor.

And if you were there, I could probably listen to the conversation all night while I drank myself silly.

I'd forgotten that Sebelius is Catholic. Yes, that could be an asset to the ticket. JFK might actually be proud that some small progress has occurred in this country in 45 years. Not much, perhaps, but enough to make some of us unwilling to give up on it completely.

in my thoughts is that I'll do most of the listening while you two guys swap perspectives. I'll buy the first round of beer. I hope Sam Addams is ok -- that's the brand that came to mind.

John Kennedy. We can fit in a toast to his good memory there at the table. What the Founders foresaw, he embodied, and the least we can do is drink to it.

We'll have to see about Sebelius' chances. I think she must have made the final 7 or 8 or so names. After that, I'm zen-brained and numbed out on the veep pick.

Every 25 minutes I think it's a different name.

Ultimately, the VP choice probably won't be crucial to his electoral chances, but I can't help but think Obama wants someone riding shotgun whose opinion he values, whose counsel he would seek out, and whose vision doesn't conflict with his. That leaves a lot of candidates available. Even Senator Clinton of New York.

It's miserable old John McCain who holds the lowest cards in the deck.

Keyes...

Aw, hell. I can't pull off the sarcasm. The GOP sat down at this table with no chips at all.

Well, there is the putative Miss Buffalo Chip, I suppose. Cindy for VP! Even though I hear she plasters on the makeup like a trollop...

You're killin' me here.

I've been doing McCain a huge favor, IMO, by carnival-barking Franklin Graham as his veep choice. If there's anybody still left over at McCain headquarters, they ought to lurk on DU awhlie and they'd pick up some valuable tips for the campaign.

Alan Keyes! LOL!

He's almost as nutty as Keyes, but doesn't have the unfortunate baggage of more pigmentation, a big plus with the GOP base, who prefer African Americans in more reaily comprehensible subservient positions (as long as they don't stray off the plantation, as it were).

Lovely.

You know damn well that's a figure of speech. If you disagree with the point, that's fine, say so. But don't be silly about it.

Apologies for misquoting your figure of speech.

Will there be figurative blood?

Besides Nunn and Hagel, that is.

I really and truly believe that she's the pick.

The smokescreen effect would not matter now with just a day or two to go. Something going on. I think Sebelius is it.

I'd be pleased if the job were offered to her.

They kept her quiet and pushed everyone else as a smokescreen. If its her it will be a major news breaker -- the media will go bonkers. Smart. Very Obama-esk.

the looks of things.

I wouldn't put it past them to try something like this.

Governor Sebelius has resonance in Ohio as well as Kansas. She is the daughter of former Ohio Democratic Governor John Gilligan.

Could make the difference there. I really like this pick if Obama does it.

:cry:

Please explain.

Yep, just like we thought.

I don't think Sebelius is that person. I liked her
earlier in the season but considering how Rovian this
race has become, I think he needs a heavyweight on
this, not a woman. GO JOE BIDEN!

:wtf:

:cry:

I really hope Obama does not do this.

who has a legitimate shot at VP?

the woman factor is big, plus Ohio. I like it.

:wtf:

Do you think Seblius is ready to lead this country?

She is as ready as Kaine or Bayh or Biden or Clark or Hillary. As Bill Clinton said recently noboby is really ready to be POTUS. You learn on the job no matter what your background or experience.

It's not just a ceremonial position -- hasn't been
since Gore.

as well as providing insight as to how to help get his agenda passed and solving this nation's problems.

At the very least she helps with women and Ohio. Both are crucial.

Americans get stupid (make that MORE stupid) when they're scared ~ and now they're scared of terrorists AND a cold war reprisal.

I think she is it.

possible Obama victory.

Blue governor in a REAL red state. Sturdy on coal. Catholic daughter of former Ohio Democratic Governor John Gilligan.

This is a potent option, IMO.

It would force McCain into an even MORE one-dimensional campaign.

And not least, Kathleen Sebelius could walk into an assisted living facility or nursing home or any other gathering of older voters -- the one block Obama is still fighting to grab hold of -- and she could reassure them that this guy's ok, that their vote would count toward the Good.

She would be extremely effective in that role.

Lots of pluses. I like it!

welcome to DU.

Also, I like your politics!

I like your viewpoint as well. I think I am going to call it night. Keep up the good work!

Thank you.

http://www.surveyusa.com/index.php/page/4/

This will be a disaster...

Not likely.

even if it's been made behind closed doors.

Obama's team is about the most effective political bunch I've seen in a hell of a long time.

It might just as easily be Bill Richardson, or Wes Clark, or Evan Bayh, or Bill Bradley.

Someone knows who it is, but it isn't me.

If it's Gov. Sebelius, what good does it serve Obama for me to sqawk that it should have been Schwetizer instead, solely on the grounds that I prefer Schweitzer?

I'm on board no matter the veep pick, but if it's Sebelius, I think a case can be made for her as a genuine contributor.

Well said!

And she'd be a phenomenal vice-presidential choice. I am guessing by all of the comments so far that none of the posters actually live in Kansas.

I have just moved away after 18 years there. I've been involved in Democratic party politics since I 2002, when I went door-to-door campaigning on her behalf. She served in the legislature from 1986 to 1994, then ran for and became insurance commissioner in 1994. She won her first gubernatorial campaign 53-47%. Four years later, the Republicans could not find anyone of substance who wanted to run against her, and basically the man who won the Republican primary was largely unknown outside the state Senate District he was state Senator from.

She has worked very successfully with a difficult, Republican dominated legislature, even able to increase funding for schools, always an unpopular thing with Republicans, especially the extreme conservatives that exist in places like Kansas. She was able to persuade a former Republican legislator and state chair to switch political parties and run with her as lieutenant governor. How's that for persuading Republicans to support her?

And I disagree with those who think the VP needs to be an attack dog. Kathleen can more than hold her own in public debate. She's smart, articulate, well-informed, and would be a match for anyone McCain selects as his running mate.

The fact that to much of the country she's a relative unknown would work in her favor. Too many people already have firm opinions about the better-known candidates out there. Kathleen Sebelius would be able to introduce herself over and over again in a refreshing way. I've met her several times at various political functions, and she is always gracious and thoughtful. The last time I saw here I told her I hoped we'd be seeing her some day on the national scene, and she just smiled and thanked me for my kind words. I've been thinking more and more lately that she might be the choice, and I hope she is. I just don't know if Kansas won't be the worse off without her.

Translation:

"Look, sweetie, I have another woman as my VP, and I know you can't really tell one woman from another, or at least you'll be so thrilled that I condescended to pick any woman that it won't matter that I simply couldn't bring myself to pick the woman who's just about as strong and popular a politician as I am, and who put 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling. 18 million votes I'd really like to forget about, which is why I'm choosing a female VP I can easily overshadow, who won't be a constant reminder that I nearly didn't get the nomination. A female assistant who knows her place. But since she's female, I know you'll be placated. Won't you, sweetie?"


And yes, I know, the "placate" quote in the subject line there was the idiotic wording of the journalist at that Sioux City paper. Obama's smart enough not to use words like "placate."

But choosing Sebelius would send the same message. And if you think Clinton supporters who aren't sure they can vote for Obama are wavering now, just wait till you see how they respond to him choosing a woman as his running mate -- but not Clinton. Especially if there's the tiniest hint this is being done to "placate" Clinton supporters.

There'd be much more than a hint of such condescension, though, simply because Sebelius can't add as much to the ticket as Biden or Richardson, for instance.

Choosing her would cost Obama so many votes. And the polls indicate she couldn't even deliver Kansas.

Disastrous choice, if we want to win.

Fortunately, only a few Clinton supporters are stupid enough to vote for McShame.

28% of the Democrats who voted for Clinton will be much more than "a few" -- and as I recall, about half of those were planning to vote for McCain.

This is not a normal election year, in any way. And for Obama to think he could have a woman as VP and choose someone other than Clinton would be comparable to Clinton -- if the situation were reversed -- thinking she could have Harold Ford as her running mate and that would have the same appeal to AA voters as asking Obama to be her running mate. You really think that would go over well with Obama supporters?

Sebelius can always run for president on her own, to see if she's a strong enough politician and popular enough.

And Obama can of course put her on the ticket this year, if he wants it to look as though he's dissing Clinton. I just don't think there's any chance of that ticket winning.

It would be a choice that insults Clinton and her supporters. For that matter, ANY choice of running mate other than Clinton will be an insult to Clinton and her supporters. But choosing a female governor from a Plains state with few electoral votes who has little national name recognition, little or no national support (let alone approximately as much national support as Obama has), and no foreign policy experience or military experience that can at least help justify choosing anyone but Clinton, would be particularly insulting.

By the way, what is "right out of junior high" is a catty suggestion that Obama does not need to consider Clinton and her supporters to get their full support, after this close a primary race.

"ANY choice of running mate other than Clinton will be an insult to Clinton and her supporters."

Clinton and her supporters (those few hold-outs, which will be nowhere near 30% in the end) need to GET OVER THEMSELVES!

But hey, what would they know about politics compared to DUers?

I don't think I'll be able to go....

(*&^&^*&%! Work!

political judgment.