It is Down to Three
Howard Fineman of MSNBC has reported that Obama has narrowed his shortlist to three:
Indiana Senator Evan Bayh; Delaware Senator Joe Biden; and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
I do not want Bayh, for he is too DLC, but I do want both Biden and Kaine, and so it is a tough choice between those two.
Update: A Daily Kos unscientific poll shows Biden the leading choice among site readers, by a margin of 46% (Biden) to 39% for Kaine and 13% for Bayh.
Your thoughts?
I really like this “open source” style of picking a VP. it gets names out there that are chewed up by millions of people instead of the echo chamber of a campaign bus.
These guys are so freaking smart.
Anyway…Kaine a little extra electoral college help in VA tips the balance.
…and oh yeah, fuck the DLC.
Biden trails Sebelius in prediction markets.
Kaine: 37
Bayh: 25
Sebelius: 17
Biden: 12
Hagel: 9
Biden would provide a lot more opportunities for the right to attack.
I saw a bio on Kaine on TV this morning. He has a great background for pairing with Obama and it’s more important to have someone from Va. than Del. I like him.
Absolutely NO on Bayh.
I don’t know why he’d pick Biden. The idea is for his pick to be more moderate to help him appear not as far left as he actually is. Biden doesn’t help him with that at all.
both are catholic
Go Joe! It won’t matter to the right who gets picked in terms of attack opportunities. As you can see right now, McCain isn’t about making stuff up.
UK betting emporium Ladbrokes gives Kaine 3/1 odds; Biden 6/1 odds; Bayh 10/3.
Homeland Security funds, here we come!!!
BTW – how awkward, as an American, to say word ‘Homeland’? It sounds fascist.
Like the Fatherland in Nazi Germany parlance or Motherland in Soviet Russia.
Exactly!
Biden plays well in Ohio and the Midwest too.
Intelligent plainspoken-ness, albeit too much sometimes….
the banks like Biden too….
My thoughts: a ticket with 2 senators would be a mistake – but even then I doubt Obama would lose.
If Fineman’s source isn’t blowing smoke up his ass – a possibility that has to be considered, dollars to doughnuts it’s going to be Kaine.
I still think Sebelius is the best choice, but I wouldn’t put it past the Obama camp to pick someone who’s name isn’t on the radar.
I’m not sure it’s down to three, but I’m really liking the idea of Biden. Attack dog, elder statesman, foreign policy is a pretty good mix.
The idea is for his pick to be more moderate to help him appear not as far left as he actually is. Biden doesn’t help him with that at all.
Dick Cheney changed the paradigm. The new conventional wisdom is to pick someone that your base loves so the top of the ticket can appear to be more moderate while the VP throws red meat to the true believers.
I’m sure Democrats are still to chicken to try that though.
Is the DLC basically a group for Democrats who really aren’t progressive or Democratic at all? I see Harold Ford at the top of their website and came to this assumption (knowing nothing about the DLC beforehand).
Yes. They are centrist and conservative Democrats who are so afraid of Republicans that they pretend that they are Republicans.
Harold Ford is joined at the top of the DLC powerchain by Vilsack, Hillary Clinton and none other than your own Senator Carper.
Bayh is too Clinton/Carper/DLC for Kos’ crowd.