Can you imagine if Al Gore were humble enough to accept the nod for Veep again on an Obama/Gore ticket? There's nothing in the Constitution prohibiting it, right? Unlikely story, but it would be an unstoppable ticket.It can't be Barack Obama/Bill Clinton unfortunately (although that would be swell!), because the 12th Amendment says "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." *single tear*
The following post is in response to a question posed in the Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack Obama) Facebook group: "Who should be Barack Obama's Vice Presidential running mate when (not if) he wins the Democratic nomination?"
President Barack H. Obama II
Among the announced candidates, the best running mate would be Edwards. Edwards has said many times already that he will not run as VP no matter what this time, but of course that's normal political talk (just like before they announce and they're asked by the press if they're running, they always say "I'm focused right now on doing the best job I can for my constituents"). There's a chance Edwards would say yes. Edwards has the potential to bring the south, and he's one of the more progressive candidates with a chance of winning.After that, I think Hillary is the next best choice, because frankly, I think it's in the Dems best interest to have an all-star/power ticket this election. If the critics are correct about her "unbridled ambition," Hillary sees it beneath her dignity to accept VP status, regardless of who's riding the top of the ticket. But everyone who is running for President is ambitious! (They have the "audacity of hope!") To ascribe the attribute of ambition to Hillary alone is character assassination. I think she might accept VP. However, there are 2 real challenges to the Obama/Hillary ticket as I see it: 1) since they are one another's main competitors, the competition could get dirty - coming out together will depend on both campaigns restraining the mud flinging and deflecting the attacks, or irreparable damage will be done between the two, and 2) they are both relatively liberal and from blue northern states - it's probably a better strategy to have at least one candidate on the ticket who is more conservative (between Obama and Clinton, that would be Clinton, but I'm more thinking of a Lieberman type or a Blue Dog Democrat) and who has won in a purple or red state (take Evan Bayh in Indiana, for example), ideally in the south (Tim Kaine in Virginia) or the west (Bill Richardson of New Mexico). As an aside, Tim Kaine (importantly) has endorsed Obama, so no one should rule out the possibility of an Obama/Kaine ticket. Plus Obama/Kaine could potentially disrupt the so-called GOP "values vote."Finally, Bill Richardson would be one of the best Veep candidates for Obama. He offers strong executive and foreign policy experience, which is Obama's Achilles' heel. As a conservative Democrat and Hispanic-American, he could potentially wrest conservative Hispanics from the R side in the general election - latinos were very important to Bush winning in 2000 (and presumably 2004 as well)! Also, Richardson has good geography. A lot of pundits are saying that the Dems have all sorts of new opportunities in the West, and it is now possible for the Dems to win the presidency without winning previously "key" southern states. The weak point of an Obama/Richardson ticket is that it could potentially alienate white voters, who have had a monopoly on major party Pres and Veep candidates for all of American history! (Kind of an important constituency for winning the presidency, ey?) In jest, people have pointed out that Obama + Richardson = 1 white guy + half a black guy + half a latino, but I don't think that sort of racial math is gonna play for real. I think the Obama/Richardson ticket would have a challenge overcoming the "white guy deficit," but it's potentially do-able... I think Hillary is actually much more likely to pick Richardson as her running mate than Obama is, though.Obama, as a potential VP running mate, primarily would offer the youth vote, the netroots, and probably a tremendous field organizing program (his supporters are devoted enough, that I think he'll have the most enthusiastic and largest number of volunteers, which are critical to any campaign). Also, he's a proven fundraising phenom. Most importantly though, I don't think anyone should underestimate how valuable his army of volunteers would be. It is dogmatically believed both by Reps and Dems that the most valuable voter contact that can be made is one-on-one peer-to-peer. People can change the channel when political ads come on, hang up the phone on a robocall, or delete emails, but when someone knocks on their door, or especially if a friend talks to them, that is the most influential mode of political advertising there is.Which brings me to a key thought: the best thing any of us can do for Barack Obama is to evangelize for him! Broke college students or high school students don't have a ton of money to donate to him. What they can and need to do is to talk to all of their friends and family to convince them to get on board with him as early as possible. It's about building momentum starting yesterday. Hillary's campaign is pushing the "inevitable" button, but we need to push the "momentum" and "destiny" buttons for Obama, and ehem, for ourselves!Only the most conservative, ignorant, or racist people will buy the "madrassa" bit FOX is trying to spoonfeed people. And the polls are showing that Obama is leading Clinton among black voters, inspite of the propaganda campaign being mounted to portray Obama as "not black enough." That seems to show that when African-American voters first hear about Obama, they have a healthy scepticism, but he wins many of them over as they get to know about him. (That's cuz Obama is actually an incredible candidate, not just a paper tiger!)The hardest thing we're going to have to overcome talking with people, I think, is the concerns about his "lack of experience." When I've talked with people about Obama, that's what they seem to be concerned about.
Exhibit A: People who say Obama doesn't have experience aren't paying attention!
"Let him be senator a few more years, build a voting record, then we'll be able to know if we can trust him." I tell people, "Obama's got a longer voting record that Clinton or Edwards! He served eight yrs in the Illinois State Senate and 2 in DC, and he'll have 4 in DC before he becomes President. Edwards has only 6 yrs in office, and he's not even serving now. Clinton only has 6 yrs elected experience now to Obama's 10!"What am I doing? If you're reading this, it's likely cuz you're already on board and you know that about Obama.After we convince our friends and families, then it's time to volunteer knocking doors and making phone calls. I mean it's awesome that we've got 300,000 people on a Facebook group that are already on the Obama train, but it can't stop there, cuz if you think about it, we're already the Obama base. He's not gonna get anywhere unless we tell people why we love him.What's amazing about this race is that for once in recent memory, Dems are excited ... and two years out! We have a great slate of candidates! And what better to highlight for us that we have great candidates than that our current President is utterly terrible! Barring some unforeseen disaster, I can't see the Dems losing this election, given how demoralized the GOP is and how excited almost EVERYONE is for the Bush presidency to be over. I'd hate to be the next Republican running for president!
We're going to Alobama, we're going to Oklobama, we're going to Washington, and we're gonna take back the Whitehouse. Hyaaaarrrrghhh!!
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