...I know I'll be getting no end of grief for this.
But I got into a discussion with someone about this, and I think it's worthy of debate here. Mind you, I'm not actually endorsing this or proposing this, I'm just throwing it out there.
What would be so bad about Evan Bayh for VP? (ducking)
Yes, yes, I know, he's a centrist, a DLCer, and he won't bring his home state. But let me throw a couple of things into the mix here:
(1) "He'll vote badly on tie-breakers!" Do you really believe that, in the event of a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, he would vote in the same way as a Democratic senator from Indiana? As VP, he wouldn't even HAVE an Indiana constituency. Vice-President Bayh would vote how President Kerry's administration would want him to vote. It's not exactly a position of tremendous political independence.
(2) "But he pulls the party to the right!" Could well be, but exactly how much influence does he have on policy as VP? It would seem that his primary mission would be as Kerry's legislative go-to guy, a position in which it can't hurt to be able to reach out to both sides of the aisle.
(3) "What if something happens to Kerry, and he becomes President?" and "Doesn't that make him the presumptive nominee in '12? Do we want a DLCer?" Both valid concerns. But answer this - would President Bayh put up SCOTUS nominees that were rabidly anti-choice, anti-Affirmative-Action, anti-gay? He is still willing to run as a Democrat, knowing full well that running as a Democrat means you accept certain basic precepts. I don't see him putting Scalia clones on the Court.
Look, I'm just free-associating here, and I'm not saying this is WHAT I want. I'm just encouraging robust and lively debate, and I don't want the Democratic Party to cut off its nose to spite its face over this VP thing.
Also, I guess, as a native Hoosier (transplanted to Cincinnati, not sure where I'll end up), I just don't want the last memory of an Indiana VP to be J. Danforth Quayle. It took us a LONG time to dig out from under that one, thankyouverymuch.
I look forward to the debate.
WF