Many of us are surprised that Kerry picked the candidate we were all rooting for him to pick. A Kerry/Edwards ticket is a very good thing here on several levels.
North Carolina, whic has so far still been a solidly red state, yesterday became a swing state. This pattern will repeat itself in many of the border states, like VA, TN, KY, and WV. The more conservative South Carolina will continue to lean towards Bush. However, with a VP candidate who was born here, the spread in SC will narrow, forcing the Bush campaign to spend precious money and time here to keep their lead, taking resources away from the crucial swing states.
However, while South Carolina may still cast its electors Bush-wards, the more interesting race here is the pursuit to succeed Fritz Hollings (about whom I’ve written in the past). In an already competitive race, Inez Tenenbaum will get a serious coattail boost from Edwards’ smiling face in the “D” column. And the addition of a nice Southern Jewish Democrat is one crucial step to regain control of the Senate.
And y’know who was first to hear of Kerry’s choice of running mate? Not Edwards. Not any of Kerry’s staffers. It was the guys who painted the airplane.
When John finally called John, he said, “John, Teresa and I would like to ask you and Elizabeth to join us on our ticket to take back our country.” Two striking things about this sentence. “Teresa and I?” That sounds way too creepily Reaganesque: “Nancy and I would like to thank blah blah.” With Teresa’s reputation as a wealthy, independent go-getter, it conjures disturbing images of John (like Ron) as a ventriloquist’s dummy (“We’re doing everything we can” [WAV file]).
Second, “take back our country.” Damnit, is everybody going to steal Howard Dean’s rhetoric? Howard’s happy to support the Kerry ticket, and his followers are too, but he really ought to get at least a Cabinet postion for his trouble. (Secretary of Health and Human Services? Surgeon General! Oh yeah.)