OBAMA needs to pick a VP from a republican state

i think jim webb could give him virginia and bayh could give him indiana. joe biden would be a great choice but delaware is already a democratic state.

Clinton shouldn't have picked Gore (neighboring states), Bush shouldn't have picked Cheney (WY was guaranteed anyway). Hasn't it been a long time since the VP candidate guaranteed a swing state for the top of the ticket. Most people are going to vote for Obama or McCain with little regard for the VP.

And for that matter, Biden was born and spent the first part of his childhood in PA, and Philly and Delaware are close.

virginia will elect mark warner by 20+ percent and with jim webb as VP that will give obama virginia. i also think bayh is very popular in indiana. another choice would be the kansas governor but kansas is very republican in pres elections.

see - Gore and TN 2000. Did Kerry win N.C.?

Picking a Veep who is well known in a particular state might make a big difference.

Mayor Bloomberg is said to be a financial whiz and has made environmental leaps with NYC's taxi system... hybrids...

Just my 2 cents.

but obama will win ny big anyway.

but not always.

Bill Clinton won in 1992 with Gore, from a next-door state -- same region, similar accents, etc.

For disparate tickets, we have John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.

Johnson won handily with Hubert Humphrey in 64.

Agnew was a useless appendage for Nixon in 68. Certainly he didn't help the ticket any. Hard to say if he hurt it much.

McGovern was already quite a long shot in 72 but when the Eagleton controversy exploded, there was a great lost chance. I liked Eagleton a lot and it was a tough time for Democrats. Shriver substituted boldly, but by that time too much blood had been lost.

Carter / Mondale did pretty well in 80, although it was a fairly close race, as if somehow the nation didn't really know what it thought about Nixon. I supported Mo Udal and Birch Bayh over Carter in the primaries that cycle.

Reagan could likely have chosen Richard Speck as his running mate and still defeated Carter.

Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro, before the cheese slipped off her cracker and she became a hit-person for Hillary on Obama.

Bush Sr. chose Dan Quayle, although Indiana was solid red. Don't ask me to explain that decision.

Dole chose wisely in Jack Kemp, one of the few sentient Republicans (there are less than half a dozen since 1865), but Dole was dull and got whomped pretty good.

Bayh is an early-on Hillary supporter, though remains quite popular in Indiana. I don't know for sure if his being on the ticket turns Indiana blue, but he would be the only Dem in the state to at least make it close.

Biden says he doesn't want the job, but were he to reconsider, we would gain an adept in international affairs, sorely needed after 8 years of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, et al.

Webb's a born-fightin' Dem but can we afford to lose him in Virginia? Love the guy, but if we can get by without his leaving that seat, we might be better off in the long run.

Just some musings.

Gore didn't bring Clinton additional states, neither did Bush for Reagan, Chainee didn't add anything for Shrub, nor Lieberman for Gore. Bentsen failed to bring anything to Dukakis.

The last time a #2 definitely gave the top man another state was LBJ in 1960.

The only one that you could definitely debate was whether Nelson Rockefeller (if Ford had kept him on the ticket), would have brung New York. Very likely he would have, and Ford beats Carter. But Ford went with Dole.

conservative wing of the party who didn't like what they considered Rocky's "liberal" ways.

One look at Rocky's drug laws and the "liberal" adjective kind of falls to pieces, I would say, but then I'm not a Republican.

See your point on all counts, except we don't know how the voters split their loyalities. We know the outcome for sure, but we don't know how much worse it would have been had ____ not been on the ticket with _____, and if _____ didn't represent working people or the corporations or the Midwest, etc.

It also effects down-ballot races because it can, potentially, influence turn-out.

Sometimes by choosing nondescript veep noms, presidents win by NOT choosing a dynamic strategic choice. Bush Sr. may have chosen Quayle not for any dynamic impact but because of the absence of dynamic impact. Quayle was dumber than concrete and would stay out of Poppy's private governing. "Send Danny to Bolivia to attend a state funeral." "But sir, no one's died in Bolivia." "Well, find someplace where someone has and send him there."

Kemp didn't win the election for Dole or even carry New York, but he may well have shrunk the margin of defeat, thus depriving Clinton of a wider majority at a time when one was seriously needed.

Sometimes it's geography. Sometimes it's dynamic personalities for key constituencies. And sometimes it isn't.

I don't have a clue who Obama will select for his #2.

My personal favorite would be Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana. He is a populist rancher from Montana who is generally populist and progressive on most issues - except gun control where he is strongly supported by the NRA. That speaks for his region. And frankly that would remove a huge electorial liability in the South, the West and in rural and small town America. However he is a strong environmentalist and was vehement vocal opponent of the Iraq War even calling for withdrawing the Montana National Guard from Iraq.

--- And get this he lived and worked in Riyahd for seven years and speaks perfect fluent Arabic. Just imagine what it would do for the world and for the interest of peace in the Middle East if the President of the United States had the name Barak Hussein Obama and the Vice President spoke perfect fluent Arabic! I happen to spend a lot of time in the Middle East. I cannot even begin to describe how much it would mean if the Vice President of United States could speak with the Arab world in their own language. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this would have almost revolutionary potential for the cause of peace.

And take a look at the image that he portrays that helped him sweep Republican Montana with 70% of the vote -- would this sell in small town American and among white working class males and in the West and the South and border states?





From the actblue website: "Brian Schweitzer is a different brand of politician who has earned our support based on his willingness to speak truth, and let the chips fall where they may.
A businessman first, he understands Main Street issues at his core, fighting for lower taxes, better healthcare and education, and the creation good-paying jobs.
A soil scientist by education, Brian lived in Saudi Arabia for seven years, speaks Arabic, and created the largest dairy farm in the Middle East.

As Governor, he has become the nation’s strongest voice for sensible energy policies in an effort to reduce our dependence on foreign oil while protecting the environment from the dangers of global warming.
Brian understands that energy security will create new jobs and technology for export, expanding our tax-base, reducing our trade deficit, and saving our environment.
An opponent of the Iraq invasion from the start, he further understands that you can’t win a war when you’re funding both sides of it."

---------------

However, the Rasmussen analyst think Jim Webb would add the most to the ticket:

"Webb fits Obama's true needs. The Illinois Senator's greatest deficiency is his lack of experience in foreign policy and military security. Clinton has made that her chief point of attack -- as in the now-classic "3 A.M. telephone" ad -- and this area is obviously McCain's greatest strength. There is no way for Obama to match McCain, even if he could manufacture some "sniper fire," but the right running mate could give him a measure of credibility, in much the same way as Cheney helped Bush.

Webb is a former Navy officer and Vietnam veteran (exactly matching McCain), and a former Secretary of the Navy bringing directly relevant executive experience. He won four military medals in Vietnam, and was wounded twice, a record that, along with awards from the American Legion and VFW, would repel attacks by SwiftBoaters. His term at the Pentagon came under Ronald Reagan, when Webb was a Republican, an advantage in Obama's effort to achieve a new electoral coalition. With this military background, he reinforces the Democrats' case against the Iraqi intervention, a position he has articulated from the beginning of the war and with particular force, including a direct confrontation with President Bush at a White House reception. As a novelist, non-fiction author and Emmy-winning television reporter, he also shows intellectual distinction.

Webb also would bring specific political advantages to the Democratic ticket. His rural roots, vigorous language and championing of working class values would compensate for Obama's evident weaknesses among these voters. Webb provides a populist platform on corporate regulation, trade, taxation and health care that would further extend the party's appeal to its lower-income base. Born in Missouri, educated in Nebraska, California and the Naval Academy in Maryland, he encapsulates a national electoral appeal. Finally, to the limited extent that state residence matters, he would help to switch Virginia into the Democratic column for the first election since 1964."

link to full article:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_gerald_m_pomper/obama_s_vice_president

but again, montana votes big republican in presidential elections

We don't need anyone in the VP seat we don't want as President. We need someone who is running for President in some subtle form from the time they move into the VP's residence.

He also has been married three times - not that it is anyones business but I can see the press having a field day with it. I don't know how his marriages ended but if even one ended based on an affair women who've been cheated on don't like to vote for a cheater. Like it or not that's a fairly large number of women. Clinton got away with it because it wasn't "real" during his first run for the White House, but women are more sensitive about it since bj gate.

Much more importantly he narrowly won his seat and I'd hate to see it go back to a republican.

He likely has to go for a governor, because of his total lack of executive experience. Our last ticket with two senators wasn't able to win.

take a sledge hammer to the midwest and bleed some red out of it.

She has the perspective of a governor and the wisdom, competence, and integrity necessary to achieve the goals she strives for. Her bipartisan approaches match those of Obama and she has the credentials to be VP. She is a powerful advocate for education and is fiscally responsible.

...to win statewide contests in red states.

Wouldn't that be interesting?

He is my preference. I would love to see Brian Schweitzer, but I don't think he would want the job.

When the term republican became a bad word he changed parties

And what the Republican Party has become is general. I don't think Webb should be the VP choice but I still very much trust him as a Democrat.

eom

Works for me. :-)

im not sure she would help carry arkansas. she claims to be a new yorker now.

He stumped hard for Hillary and she only won IN by a minute margin. I don't think anyone around here will listen to him if he changes sides.

Now Webb on the other hand is someone I think would be a decent choice.

Because those two are popular and from very swingable "red" states. My $ is on one of those two. Both EXCELLENT choices.

In either case, does any #2 have the ability to give Obama a state? I doubt it.
Bayh could not give him Indiana, and Webb isn't giving him Virginia. The top of the ticket, is what these undecided voters look at.

which is a varied demographic who are a potent electoral force. An Afro American and a Hispanic on our ticket would freak out the David Dukes of the world, and in that case, they deserve to be freaked out.

It would be a ticket with a hell of a lot of talent.

west-of-the-Mississippi governor -- a region we want to compete more fiercely in and where our convention will be held.

I thik we take Colorado this time. At least. If Obama chooses Richardson, New Mexico is also there.