The Kerry camp is starting to talk about
the general election. One of the big issues for the general election is a VP candidate. Here is what the AP claims insiders in the Kerry camp are telling it.
If he wins the nomination, one of Kerry's biggest decisions will be the choice of a running mate. Advisers say there have been no official talks, but conversations always seem to come back to Edwards of North Carolina and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, who dropped out of the race after a poor showing in Iowa last month.
Edwards would give the ticket regional diversity, but the Midwest is more important to Kerry than the GOP-dominated South.
Democratic governors from the Midwest, such as Iowa's Tom Vilsack, are also possibilities.
I personally have to think that Edwards would be a much stronger choice than Gephardt. Edwards has vigour, and contrary to the buzz in the article, Florida is a more plausible pickup for Kerry than Ohio (and Edwards populist ring could help in Ohio as well).
Edwards is staying in this race for the VP slot and has hedged comments about his willingness to take the post despite earlier bravado.
One easy way to finish it, rather than having primary season drag on, would be for Edwards to join the Kerry ticket as soon as Dean is out of the race, or at least, as soon as Kerry+Edwards have a majority of earned delegates prior to the convention. It would at least be a bone thrown to those of us who feel Kerry is too much of an insider and not dynamic enough on the stump. It would also likely result in some modestly more progressive stands on labor issues.
It would not be my dream ticket by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm not keen on losing another top Democratic elected official elsewhere and I'm not sure Gephardt has the fire in his belly to really make a difference on election day.