Who Should Be VP?

[70Chip]

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.

Webb might me able to swing Virginia in an election that Obama would win anyway, but I doubt it. Edwards had no effect on North Carolina and Obama would be much better advised to batten down his hatches in Pennsylvania and Michigan. I keep hearing how BHO can win in Virginia, but as a lontime resident of the Commonwealth, I think it's more dicey than people like Tim Russert or Chris Matthews seem to understand. He needs to first secure the states that Gore and Kerry won and then go after a swing state like Ohio. Besides, Webb would not be able to hide his wife anymore if he were Veep candidate. He hid her so well in his Senatorial campaign that I had to do internet research to figure out who she was 2 years ago. She's Asian and she's quite a bit younger than he is, which is fine with me, but he was hiding the fact from Virginians for some reason. Some pollster said something to him. He love her not very long time. I'm just saying.