Originally Posted By Mr X well, I dunno. BUT, I suspect we'll know before the week is out (probably within 36 hours even). X out.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 I'm betting on Evan Bayh because it gives the ticket a balance I think Obama knows he needs. Bayh is middle class America focused - from increasing middle class tax cuts ( that should be interesting )- to tryingto lower the cost of education to looking at ways to protect American jobs from being lost.....he comes from a state that has suffered heavily from job losses in the steel industry. he would take some of the liberal stigma away from Obama for the midwestern vote- that I can tell you. Waiting for McCain's choice before I decided - Bayh as a choice for VP would move me more in that direction. Bayh is the sort of fiscally conservative Democrat I could vote for.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 The "short list" for Obama seems to be winnowing more and more according to the "insiders" they bring up on the news channels... supposedly it was down to just Bayh and Tim Kaine of VA, with Bayh the odds-on favorite, to be announced as early as today. The conventional wisdom has been wrong before, but I also think Bayh would be a good choice. Certainly a "do no harm" choice, as they say, and he adds certain pluses as well. Wouldn't have been my absolute first choice, but he's a strong one.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 who would your first choice have been - and would they bring the same balance to the ticket as Bayh - by that I mean someonefar closer to middle of the road than left politically ?
Originally Posted By dshyates Yep, and since he was a major Hillary supporter this may sway some of her angered supporters.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 It's the smart play, but likely won't sit well with the Pelosi / Reid camps....
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <who would your first choice have been - and would they bring the same balance to the ticket as Bayh - by that I mean someonefar closer to middle of the road than left politically ?> My first choice was Jim Webb of VA - VA is a state that could go "blue" this year, plus he has all kinds of foreign policy/military cred as an ex-marine and Sec'y of the Navy under Reagan. Politically he's moderate, he's southern, he opposed Iraq from the beginning for all the right muscular, military reasons (i.e. it's the wrong war, we're messing with a hornet's nest, and don't believe all the optimistic noises you hear from the Bush white house about it - obviously we can take out Saddam, but THEN what?). I thought he shored up Obama on several flanks and blunted McCain's advantage on military matters big time - he COMES OFF as a marine, and he's where the majority of the country is on Iraq as well. So he's have been my first choice, as I said here, but Bayh has advantages Webb doesn't have, like being a Governor as well as Senator. And obviously he gives Obama a better chance to take IN and maybe even OH. He's a solid choice (if indeed he IS the choice!)
Originally Posted By alexbook My prediction is that it'll be somebody we're not expecting. Has the "conventional wisdom" ever been right in predicting running mates? Of the names I've heard mentioned, my favorite would be John Edwards, but I doubt he'll get it. The most interesting name I've heard is Janet Napolitano, from a purely political point of view. It would be a signal that Obama is indeed going to challenge McCain in all 50 states.
Originally Posted By gadzuux I'm hoping for joe biden - he was my first pick back in the beginning of the primaries. He's got more political savvy than anybody about charting the waters through the DC sharks. He's also closely aligned with obama on policy issues.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Has the "conventional wisdom" ever been right in predicting running mates?<< No one saw Dan Quayle coming. Regardless of who Obama picks, it wouldn't surprise me if McCain is looking seriously for a female VP. My money's on Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Of the names I've heard mentioned, my favorite would be John Edwards, but I doubt he'll get it.<< I think Edward's is long gone after the potential scandal over the last couple of weeks. Right now a lot of the media hasn't covered it but that will change in a flash if he gets the VP nod.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Regardless of who Obama picks, it wouldn't surprise me if McCain is looking seriously for a female VP. My money's on Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. >> I think anyone from Texas draws too many comparisons to Bush. There's actually talk that Carly Fiorina, former HP CEO, is being seriously considered as an "out of the box" VP. No prior political experience, but a woman who broke through the glass ceiling of corporate American and would be strong draw for women who supported Hillary Clinton.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan No prior political experience<< Oh good. Then Obama could run "Is she ready to lead?" ads to answer back at the McCain ones. ; )
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy I think anyone who has been head of a Fortune 500 company, particularly one with as storied a history as HP, gets a check in the leadership box. Now, certainly up for debate is how well (or not well) HP fared during her time at the top.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I was hearing a lot about Fiorina and she even made Meet the Press as a McCain surrogate a month or two ago. It almost seemed like they were prepping her for it... but stories have been cropping up about HP not doing so well under her, some real enemies she created while there... suddenly she kind of disappeared from the news shows too.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << but stories have been cropping up about HP not doing so well under her >> That's generally the story on her. However, HP did really well almost immediately after she left -- which usually indicates that her strategies were sound. It's really not possible for someone to step in and effect immediate change in a huge organization, and its likely that Fiorina's strategies laid the groundwork for some pretty good success. Still, you only get credit for what happens on your watch, which is why she gets a bad rap for her time at HP.
