Welcome back for more speculation! As promised yesterday, today we'll be polling my personal top 14 possibilities for Obama's v.p. This is the first time I've listed just my personal top 14, so you can see my true biases and whether you agree. (They are not those I necessarily consider most likely to be chosen.)
I'm still alternating "break-out" polls for a while longer with the top 14 average vote-getting candidates in these threads' polls, averaging in each day's votes as we go. I'm going to do the top Westerners, military veterans, those experienced with foreign policy/national security issues, and governors before cutting 14 names to narrow the field to just two tiers--that's if Obama hasn't decided by then, of course.
Please discuss any v.p. candidates in the comments. The correct format would be to simply state their name, unless you have further comments, in which case, "I believe ___ ___ should be Obama's v.p. running mate because..." "Oh my God, where's Jane/Johnny Politician?!" would be a bit alarmist, don't you think? I'm sure they're fine. I'm happy to hear all ideas, and of course I'm no official gatekeeper, so play nice.
(continued below the fold)
And after cutting it down to 28 names, I think I'll reset the averages, too, so we don't get stuck in last month's mindset and chatter.
My personal favorite running mates for Obama remain Fmr. Sens. Sam Nunn (GA) and John Edwards (NC). I'm convinced the GOP v.p. nominee will be Gov. Mark Sanford (SC), so I do think it would be pretty smart to counterprogram with a strong Southerner. Then, if the GOP picks a weaker Southerner, or is even less intelligent and leaves their Southern flank completely uncovered, Obama and his running mate will be able to force them to fight, spend money and perhaps even lose on their own home territory. Still, some of my favorites are not Southerners, or Westerners, which I believe would be the next strongest category geographically, but simply candidates I think would work particularly well with Obama this year, both to win the election and govern effectively.
And, n.b., I won't ever be including Gov. Ed Rendell (PA), largely because of this:
That's some pretty heavy baggage I don't want to see on the news every day until November.
I'm also not including some who might make good choices, but probably not in 2008, though I know some may disagree, notably: Sen. John Kerry (MA), who I like for Secretary of State or Defense or another position, Govs. Christine Gregoire (WA) and Brian Schweitzer (MT), who need to run for reelection and Sen. Barbara Boxer (CA), my senator who I like, while not always agreeing with her on everything, because I feel that ticket would be too easily caricatured as the most liberal ticket in the universe and etc., etc. I know, I shouldn't be influenced by that likelihood, but I think that ticket would have too many liabilities not outweighed by possible electoral strengths. (I think that about some other names I've included anyway, but they've done very well in polling, so that's how they got their pass.) I also haven't included Sen. Evan Bayh (IN) yet, because...zzz...Wha?! What happened? Maybe I'll run him in the poll sometime if I don't fall asleep typing his name....And Gov. Ted Strickland (OH) has completely ruled out serving, as has senatorial candidate Fmr. Gov. Mark Warner (VA), so they've been retired from polling here.
But now, on to today's poll, the 14 names I would forward to Obama if I were asked to forward 14 names to Obama, which I certainly haven't been, or I wouldn't need to post them here....
Thanks,
Alex
Choose Our President 2008