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Originally Posted by The Goat
I think McCain has a much more difficult job than Obama in terms of choosing a veep. It's relatively apparent what Obama could use most in a veep: someone w/ military background who can swing white, working-class and working poor voters (and who can help in economic policy). While I think Bloomberg would add some serious muscle to the Obama camp in terms of policy prowess (and the Jewish vote in Florida etc) it does nothing for him among white working class/poor voters. Jim Webb fits almost perfectly and could swing VA. Bob Kerrey or Chuck Hagel, both of Nebraska and extremely talented politicians, are less obvious but still interesting personalities.
With Mccain's veep the criterion is more complicated IMO. If the democrats actually run a 21st century campaign McCain will have to be very careful in who he chooses. First off, McCain needs somebody w/ a strong comprehension of economic policy. His admission that it is not a strong point for himself will be low lying fruit for tough campaign adds starting this summer, so he needs to bring someone to the table that can hit back hard. Then McCain has to choose someone to energize the religious right and I think it will be a tougher challenge than people expect. My maternal relatives are evangelical conservatives to the bone - they f'n hate McCain almost as much as they hate democrats, Europeans, most minorities and well... anybody who doesn't look, act, talk, and think the way they do. Romney, Huckleberry, or Paul could probably help but I don't really know how much (I don't understand the way they think). But the issue that could play biggest, depending on how clever the dems want to be, is that the veep on the republican ticket is essentially running for pres as well because of McCain's age and the immense stress of the oval office. For the first time ever the veep could see as much scrutiny as the pres, which means a much tougher road to travel IMO.
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I mildly disagree with a couple of points you make. Very respectfully I might add.
This idea that Bloomberg can add something to a ticket, I just don't see it. First of all, no one really knows what his appeal is outside of New York. Sure he's the Mayor of the largest city, has deep pockets, and he's pretty damn smart, but that doesn't always translate to votes. Which leads me to my second point about Bloomberg, if his being Mayor of New York would translate to votes in Florida, then Rudy Giuliani would have never been forced to drop out of the race so early. Rudy had a one state strategy - win Florida. If he couldn't carry Florida with all of his connections to the Jewish vote, then what good was he afterall? Well guess what happened, McCain took his ass to the cleaners in Florida, and Bloomberg took pause.
If Rudy, with all of his popularity couldn't swing enough of the Jewish vote to his favor, I have serious doubts whether or not Bloomberg could do any better.
Secondly, the idea that Obama has white working class voter problem is seriously overstated. It's just not accurate. This is something that has plagued the Dems for years, it's not specific to Obama. Obama does have an up hill battle with a very specific white voter, within a specific demographic. But to suggest that he's not getting white working classs people, male or female, to vote for him just isn't true.