The title sums it up. Why in the world isn’t Obama campaigning with a VP choice yet? He’s shown us so far that he’s excellent at playing his political cards at the perfect time, but for the life of me I just can’t figure out what the stall is about here.
Well, what benefit would it give him?
He’s riding high. There is no obvious benefit to naming any of the likely candidates right now. Naming a VP choice is a risky move; you never know what reaction people will have. Why not wait until you need to do it, when a specific person can deliver a specific benefit?
We still have nearly two months before the convention. Traditionally, the Veep was announced at, or just before the convention. Why rush it?
Or at least until your opponent has named his VP choice.
I think he legitimately needs more time to figure out who he wants. He was in 100% campaign mode until fairly recently, so I doubt he’s deliberately dragging out the process. I don’t understand why people are so impatient about this whole process. The election isn’t until November for Christ’s sake.
By not naming folks publicly, and keeping whatever discussions he’s having with the folks on his short list, they are able to make their decisions without any undue pressure.
Kerry’s pick of Edwards made the news sometime in early July.
Gore’s pick of Lieberman (warning: PDF) made the news sometime in early August.
Mosier’s question is not all that off-the-wall although I think Obama will hint at/name a running closer to the convention in August rather than now – for the reasons John Mace gave.
Perhaps Obama remembers what happens to candidates who jump the gun.
From Wikipedia
Let’s not overlook the obvious either. Obama is a politician. One of the biggest plums that a Presidential candidate has is the Vice-Presidential spot. Obama is certain to be receiving a lot of favors right now from people who’d like to be considered. Once he names a running mate, those favors will dry up.
Don’t forget, he’s got to look in all the closets for skeletons for the Veep spot. That takes time.
I think you’re on the right track. The longer there is no VEEP, the less time the opposition will have to investigate him and no Gaffes are possible. Any VP candidate that makes a gaffe simply takes shklerself out of the running.
That’s it. BO, er, BHO has all the good publicity right now; the rose-colored spotlights are aimed at HIM. A VP would be a distraction.
On the other hand, we have the case of George H. W. Bush, who made a big deal of taking a Very Long Time to seriously consider the Very Best Choice for the person who would be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Then he comes out with Dan Quayle, surely the most laughably unqualified candidate of the 20th century, unless you consider W himself. And at least W had been a governor!
Obama takes a small risk in taking a long time to choose his running mate in that the longer the choice takes, the better it had better be. Fortunately, Obama is a very slick and savvy guy, and certainly doesn’t ever have to worry about being upstaged by his running mate, unlike Bush 41. Also, it’s more recognized than ever how meticulous the vetting process has to be, and how long that takes.
He really hasn’t taken a long time, though. He wrapped up the nomination about four weeks ago. McCain locked it up around February and hasn’t made a choice either.
He has to wait for the Hillary love to die down before he picks someone else or the whole “im taking my vote and going to mccain” thing is going to pickup again.
Impeachment insurance.
This is my guess. He needs the Clinton voters to settle down, get over their frustration and anger about not getting their choice of candidate, and realise that the only mature and sensible thing to do is get behind Obama so that they at least have a shot at electing a Dem president.
What he doesn’t want to do is upset them all right now, while the wounds are still open, by appointing someone other than Clinton as running mate.
The latest polls already show Hillary voters moving to Obama bigtime (although there are still some hardcores who say they’ll vote for McCain instead). I agree, Obama has a long time yet before he has to announce his pick. We political junkies live in a 24-hour-news-cycle, Web-driven, instant-gratification culture, though, so without a primary or caucus to look forward to or back on, we get a little antsy and need our next fix. Patience, my friends, patience!
There’s no reason to name a veep yet. It’s a silly question.
I like what Adlai Stevenson did in 1956. He waited until the Convention and then threw it open to the delegates! My, that was an exciting evening! The race came down to Estes Kefauver and a young Senator that my family had never heard of. Jack somebody. Kefauver won and ran with Stevenson. But Jack seemed to do just fine four years later when he won the Presidency.
“Those were the days, my friend; we thought they’d never end…”