Community | June 05, 2008 | 2 comments

Who Should be Obama's pick for VP?

source: http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/06/obama-running-mate-vice-presidential-...

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jostamey
"Barack Obama, the likely Democratic nominee, has two options in his hunt for a partner on the Democratic ticket. He can double down on strengths or he can compensate for weaknesses. If he mimics the last Democratic president and chooses the former (Bill Clinton selected another young Southerner, Al Gore, in 1992), the decision-making process is relatively easy: Find someone youthful and energetic with a devotion to reform, a foreign policy approach that rejects conventional wisdom, and a short or nonexistent Washington resume. If Obama chooses the latter, however, things are decidedly more complex. Does he choose a VP who bolsters the ticket on foreign policy or on executive experience? Is there anyone with foreign policy expertise who isn't a creature of Washington? Does he find someone with appeal to working-class voters in Appalachia or white women nationwide? What about Jews in Florida and Latinos in the Southwest? And hanging over all of this is the geographic question—does Obama pick someone who hails from a swing state that he or she can deliver?"

-Jonathan Stein
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    Barack Obama,  Election 08,  Joe Biden,  John Edwards,  12 more
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2 comments // Who Should be Obama's pick for VP?

  • JudahEvan
    • 0
      JudahEvan  

    • Good points JohnA. And with that, I say you go all out and pick Biden. He is very experienced and plugs the national security/foreign policy hole that is perceived to exist in the Obama camp. I don't think Tim Kaine is very exiting, though he's new and outside the beltway. And I think Biden brings you Virginia anyway. Bayh brings you Indiana, but I don't know if that's worth it. Biden can lead and govern. When debate time comes, no matter who McCain picks, Biden will wipe the floor with him or her.

    • 3 years ago
  • JohnA
    • 0
      JohnA  

    • He's got a tough choice to make. He has to be seen as the top of the ticket, but almost any one of the mentioned possibilities would have more experience, accomplishments, and qualifications. To pick someone more experienced would certainly highlight his weaknesses, but who is there with less?

    • 3 years ago
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