Maybe this is old news to some, but news to me - according to this MSNBC article, Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska, is considered by many Washington insiders to be in the running as a VP candidate for Obama.
I don’t know anything about Sen. Hagel other than what they say about him in that article - very anti-war and critical of Bush - but that would certainly be an interesting choice for Obama to make.
I guess it would certainly prove that Obama is trying to reach out and unify the country.
A quick poll:
Would Obama’s choosing a liberal Republican as a VP candidate be a smart idea, or stupid idea?
Stupid idea. There are plenty of anti-war, critical of Shrub Democrats he could pick without crossing party lines and risking alienating the party faithful. I think he should choose someone like Bill Richardson, if not in fact Bill Richardson.
It may be a smart idea, I’m not 100% it would be a stupid idea so I think that counts for a grey area assumption that picking Hagel would be a good idea. Additionally, I believe Chuck is well liked on capital hill, but both teams.
I’m not convinced Bill Richardon would be the best man for the VP job either, it would make the ticket too brown for a lot of Americans. Unfortunately race is something we saw the raw power of in appalachia.
Just for historical context, there were some kind of talks between Kerry and McCain in 2004, or at least one seems to have wanted to talk about the idea with the other, but we know how that worked out. I think this kind of thing is mostly speculation.
Don’t we hear this every election cycle? Not going to happen. Just gives the commentators something to talk about while they’re waiting for Obama to make his choice.
A good point made on The Daily Show last night (? I think… ) was that there is a difference between being the leader of the country and the leader of your party. If a Republican is the best choice for VP, then I have no problem with it. And if the party faithful can’t get past party to think of what’s best for the country… well… what makes them any different from Pubbies who can’t get past party? I doubt it could happen, but I would have a lot more faith in the political system if it was at least a viable option.
Not only will Chuck Hagel (who is pro-life and conservative on most domestic and social issues) not even be considered by Obama, I seriously doubt a single Republican will make it to the cabinet.
Agreed. I’m not sure Obama would be allowed to have a Republican running mate if he wanted too. Doesn’t the Democratic Party require it’s candidates to be Democrats? This is real life, not Commander in Chief.
He’s just saying what has crossed the mind of every disillusioned humanist since Obama declared his interest in living in The Big House. I’ll vote for Obama, and I will be SHOCKED when he is not assassinated.
Ok, that’s what I thought you were saying. I agree. They already are. Back when he came to Hartford you should have seen the secret service around him - and that was back in late January…
Are these the same “Washington insiders” that have been interviewed on TV to tell us how swimmingly the war has been going? The same “Washington insiders” who are deployed in secret White House PR scams?
Yeah, I’m not surprised that there are some “Washington insiders” who are anonymously trying to make people think that Obama is going to pick a Republican VP — oh no, Obama isn’t Democrat enough! might as well vote McCain! — but it sounds like unsubstantiated election-year baloney to me.
Trojan horse threat. Same goes for any candidate with a high connection to the military-industrial complex- Clark, Webb, Powell, Hagel etc… Way to much anxiety with any of those tickets if you ask me.
That said, I have to think that Hagel would be at the top of Obama’s short list for Sec.Defense. Their foreign policies are very much in line, and the social policies are not a factor. You get that military/conservative boost where he really needs it.
Considering that during his time in the Illinois legislature he was widely considered to be a driving force in getting the Republicans and Democrats to work together, and that one of his fairly recent campaign ads had an Illinois Republican state senator (Kirk Dillard) talking about this perception, I would suspect he would be more likely than Sen. Clinton to have a bipartisan Cabinet.