Barack Obama is, to put it mildly, one of the most talented and attractive people the Democratic Party has ever nominated for President. His remarkable victory over a talented primary field shows that he and his team are incredibly good, and there are far too many self-professed experts out there telling him what he "must" do to prevail in November.
I fully trust him to win by his own lights.
But that said, some more gratuitous advice to consider:
The vice presidential question is obviously dominating the conversation right now. But there is no single VP candidate who can provide all the desirable characteristics that Obama is thought to need in a VP: a woman; a Hispanic; Hillary or a former Hillary supporter to build bridges; a Virginian; someone who easily speaks to "white, working class" voters; a Hispanic; someone with extensive foreign policy and/or national security experience; a Catholic; an Ohioan, etc.
Consider whether Obama should not, sometime well in advance of November, identify not just his running mate, but also key members of his Cabinet. In addition to allowing him to bring on board a wider array of electoral strengths than a single VP nominee could bring, but also to identify -- in prebuttal to McCain's argument that Obama's flavor of "change" carries too much risk and uncertainty -- the kind of administration his will be. (
I wanted to spur discussion of this idea, rather than to propose specific names. But just to give a sense of the kind of array I have in mind, here are some specifics for a few important cabinet seats:
VP: Kaine
Secretary of State: Richardson
DoD: Clark (or Hagel)
HHS (or a proposed new Dept. of Universal Health Care): H. Clinton
Attorney General: Edwards
Energy (or proposed new Cabinet-level EPA): Gore
Interior: Napolitano
(My list reflects my own bias of not taking wanting to lose current or future (Warner) Dem. Senators -- but that's another issue).
The point here, again, is the general idea, not the specific names (H. Clinton, obviously, is a particular point of controversy right now.). But if you think the idea is not good, I'd appreciate to hear why. Thanks!