Running mates

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This topic has come up a few times in the primaries page, but since it is an issue that comes up AFTER the primaries are done I thought it deserves a thread of its own.

AFAIK, Mccain has not announced his running mate. Why? I don't know much about this element of the American process, but I would imagine that it would be in his best interest to appear to be decisive and start his campaign engines running while Obama and Hillary expend time, money, and energy duking it out. Am I missing something?

Next thing, who should Mccain pick? Some have suggested Romney, but I know at least one person (Rallymama) who would become physically ill if that should happen Who are his other choices? Enlighten me.

As for Barack and the Hill, well, many have said that going onto a ticket together would hurt them rather than forward their cause, so screw that. Who would / should Hillary pick? Bill? How about Obama? Maybe Kerry? All you experts on America weigh in and lets keep the AOLS rolling hot!

 

Edwards is an excellent for either Democratic candidate.

For McCain it will depend on who gets the Democratic nod. If Hillary wins I expect McCain to go with a woman -- possibly Kay Bailey Hutchinson from Texas. If Obama wins the nod, I think the choice will not be as critical. I like Brownbeck or Frist -- although I think it will be either Guilani or Romney.

 

Obama
I think he'd be smart to go with Jim Webb, Claire McKaskil (sp?), Chris Dodd or maybe Wes Clarke (though he's kind of a Clinton guy). Clinton has ensured that Obama won't ask her, and neither will go near Kerry or Gore. Edwards seems like a logical choice but I don't see it happening. There's also talk of Joe Biden, but that also seems like a 5th or 6th tier choice to me. That said, he'll need someone to balance his weaknesses, primarily foreign policy experience, and Biden has plenty.

Clinton
Evan Bayh, John Edwards (maybe), Ed Rendell seems to be hoping for it. I really doubt she'll have Bill be her running mate. It also may not be allowed, given that he's already served two terms as President and couldn't serve a 3rd should something happen to a President Hillary (can someone confirm if this is correct?).

McCain
Mitt seems to be the top of the list. Whomever it is, it'll almost certainly be someone who'll bolster his credentials among conservative partisans - therefore, it'll be a hardcore partisan hack like Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham, Brownback, or who Mitt Romney has now become. A lot of people seem to think it'll be Giuliani (my Dad does), but I don't see the net benefit of adding the greatest primary flameout in recent history to the ticket, especially one whose credentials among conservative partisans is already shaky, which is McCain's weak spot on his side. There's also buzz about Condi Rice right now as well, but I also see this as a non-starter for a variety of reasons.

My one/fifth of a dime.

 

Jim Webb -- I didn't think of him (but then I don't think much of him either). He would be a good choice for Obama, but may put off some people due to his switching party affiliation. He does have significant defense experience -- something else Obama needs.

Wes Clark may not be diverse enough geographically for either candidate -- he is also from Chicago.

 

That's right! I forgot he was from Chicago. For some reason I was thinking he was a Tennessean. Huh.

 

How important are regional affiliations in US policies? I did not expect that it's a big deal if, say, the president and VP are both from NY, or from Boston and Chicago.

 

Man. I thought this was a thread about how it was better to go out for a run if you plan to go with someone else, rather than relying on your own personal motivation to get out of bed and run. But it's about politics instead. I should have known from the fact that its in an Alley...............

 

@Montresor: There's also the intangible facotr that people see someone on the ticket from their own region and think that s/he he will be a "kindred spirit". It's a way of trying to garner votes from a particular region of the country, particularly the south or midwest. For some odd reason, no one seems to go out of their way to play up to the Northeastern industrial corridor...

Ed Rendell as VP?!?!?!?! Horrors! He did a much better job in Philadelphia's city hall than he's doing in Harrisburg, IMO. I'd hate to see what sort of an boor he'd turn into if his stage were expanded yet again.

 

I've heard comments about a possible McCain/Lieberman ticket, but I'm kinda doubtful about that. Apart from his foreign policy/security ideas, Liebermann is afaik notably to the left of McCain, and McCain himself has been less than enthusiastic about some of the policies his party had adopted (IIRC he protested the tax cuts in the beginning). On the other hand it would serve to frame McCain as a centrist candidate, which can be a winning position if voters on the far right can be presumed to vote for McCain to keep either of the democratic candidates out of the White House. However, perhaps I take their support for granted. Any thoughts?

 

I have thought about a joint Liebermann-McCain ticket as well, and I think it is possible although not altogether likely. The first thing that would have to happen is Liebermann would have to change his party affiliation from independent to Republican. (Note: While it is not a Constitutional requirement that both members of a ticket be from the same party - heck I don't think the Constitution even talks about political parties - the Republicans would never allow an independent on the ballot with McCain.)

That having been said, Liebermann suffers from the same thing Giuliani does - that he is much more of a centrist pick. Although Liebermann is a former Democrat, I do not think he is that much further to the left than McCain. Liebermann was never particularly far to the left at any point in his political career, and he actually is moving further and further to the right. McCain's career path is quite similar. He too started closer to the middle, and since gaining the party's nomination he has moved farther to the right. It can truthfully be said that both McCain and Liebermann are both more right-aligned now than at any other time in their political careers.

Still, I think that McCain will ultimately go with one of two areas where he is seen as weak - the economy and connecting with religious conservatives. For the former, Mitt Romney is the most logical pick, while for the latter, Mike Huckabee's your man. I don't see him picking a woman, regardless of who is on the Republican ticket, simply because the only woman in the Republican party that is widely known is Condi Rice, and she is a very weak candidate on a number of accounts - most notably for her close ties with the current administration. While Kay Hutchinson is a fine politician, I think she lacks the star power to get the nod.

Onto the Democrat side - I agree that John Edwards is a good pick for either candidate, but it is odd that he has yet to endorse either of tham. I think he is hesitant to do so, because while he personally likes Hillary better, most of his former supporters have gone to Obama. Furthermore, his home state (North Carolina) is expected to vote overwhelmingly in favor of Obama. However, North Carolina's primary is May 6th, so presumably he'll be asked who he voted for, and will have to make a decision by then. The strangest thing about him not endorsing anyone (and I'm sure this is by design) is that neither candidate will now benefit greatly from his endorsement. With so few states left on the primary calendar (especially if doesn't announce his pick until the day of the North Carolina and Indiana primary) will mean that there are just a few states left, most of which have relatively small populations and get few delegates.

Other possibilities for Obama - I agree that Joe Biden is a good pick for his military background. But if you're going to go with Biden, why not just go all the way military and pick Anthony Zinni?

@ Everyone wondering if Bill could be Vice-President: Yes, he can. He just would not be able to become the president should the president die. The line of succession would go to the Secretary of State. The incumbent's vice president typically runs for president, and while it is much less common, it is possible for the reverse to happen as well (i.e., the incumbent president serves as vice-president).

 

I've thought of this as well, but I think Zinni would be far more effective as SecDef than VP.

 

Biden is actually who I'm hoping for. He has an impeccable senatorial record, is a great speaker, and has loads of foreign policy experience. As you mention, Biden is strong everywhere Obama is weak.

FactCheck.org wrote an interesting article about that a while ago. Their verdict was Probably not, but it's an untested constitutional conundrum. The reason that the answer isn't a flat "no" is that the constitution doesn't actually spell out term limits for the vice presidency.

 

If McCain does take a "centrist" running mate, could that take some disgruntled supporters of Hillary/Obama that don't support the one that wins? If the Democrats are serious about the White House, they need Obama and Clinton on the same ticket, or they risk losing some traditional Democrats to the Republicans...

 

You mean Obama with Bill Clinton as VP? That might be Hillarious

 

That won't ever happen. Ever.

 

@ Drew,

The biggest problem I see with Biden is that he's a gaffe machine.

@ Gnarff,

There's always that risk in any election. But Hillary and Obama on the same ticket would be toxic. Many conservatives who would consider voting for Obama would RUN to McCain if Hillary is anywhere near the ticket. The opposite is also true of course, but to a far lesser degree. Hillary has blown this in every possible way. Since Obama has earned over 70 superdelegates since Super Tuesday, and Hillary has a net loss of about 5 in that time, I think it's clear the bulk of the party knows this too. Now if we could just get the media to stop quickening this thing and stop humoring her scorched-earth trainwreck, we might not lose this thing.

 

It's never caused any problems for G.W. Bush...

 

DR: It sounds like Hillary has cost the Democrats the election already...

 

Didn't she and Obama still have better rankings than McCain, though?