I had a long drive home tonight from our 4th of July engagement, and my wife and I were lost in our thoughts. Hers were about Day Care options for Aristotle, mine was concern over the Gephardt angst around these parts.
Given that he was a frontrunner for the veep nomination, I decided I was going to write a piece in his defense. But I was going to write it on Monday since I was beat.
Then I got home to this bit from Archpundit.
Just got some scuttlebutt, top Gephardt aide Joyce Aboussie has been sent a private plane to join Dick Gephardt for....one can only assume the announcement that Dick Gephardt will be the next Vice President Nominee for the Democratic Party.
Political Wire followed suit. It's Gephardt, they say. Me, I hear nothing, so I can't join the bandwagon. I have no clue if it will be Gephardt or not.
But there are a lot worse choices than Gephardt. And a defense of the guy will be forthcoming sometime Monday, whether he is our veep nominee or not.
But a sneak preview -- Gephardt might not the most exciting choice, but he gives the Republicans zero ammunition. And that fits in nicely within Kerry's strategy.
Kerry may be boring, and he may not be inspiring, but he's given Rove absolutely no new material to work with. That's why the GOoPers have had to trot out 10-year-old b.s. to try and smear Kerry. Our guy has said just about nothing that can be turned around and used against him by Bush/Cheney 2004.
Kerry's team is operating under the C.W. assumption (correctly, IMHO) that a reelection battle is a referendum on the incumbent. Hence, they are fully expecting Bush to do himself in, leaving Kerry as the only alternative by the time November runs around. It may not be an exciting strategy, but a sound one nevertheless.
Gephardt as veep would be a natural extension of that strategy.
Now I'm going to bed. More tomorrow.
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