# Who will/should Obama pick as running mate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 4, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752 "2008-06-04T13:50:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/421 "2008-08-20T05:18:28Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Ronald Reagan? (Lincoln was born in Kentucky). [/QUOTE] I really wasn’t trying to be that cryptic. I assumed everyone would know who I was referring to. Hint: Her first name starts with an H. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/422 "2008-08-20T13:04:30Z")
Wow. I think it says something about how utterly unlikely her selection as VP is that I didn’t even think about Hillary. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/423 "2008-08-20T14:35:53Z")
Duff? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/424 "2008-08-20T14:39:31Z")
If this doesn’t happen shortly, it’s not going to happen today either. I’m assuming what the NYT said about an early-morning annoucement is reliable, because it makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/425 "2008-08-20T15:26:11Z")
You know, I entered the text message thing mostly so I would know right away and could stop checking all over the Web every couple of minutes. Now I’m checking the Web _and_ my phone every couple of minutes. All for an announcement that could still be three days away. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/426 "2008-08-20T16:10:31Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] If this doesn’t happen shortly, it’s not going to happen today either. I’m assuming what the NYT said about an early-morning annoucement is reliable, because it makes sense. [/QUOTE] No, you said 1 PM. You’re a moderator, and I believe you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/427 "2008-08-20T16:13:18Z")
I think it’s going to be tomorrow morning. Waiting until friday would be milking it too much. I also think it’s going to be Biden. McCain is going to announce Romney on the 29th. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/428 "2008-08-20T16:31:07Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I think it’s going to be tomorrow morning. Waiting until friday would be milking it too much. I also think it’s going to be Biden. McCain is going to announce Romney on the 29th. [/QUOTE] Assuming you’re correct about the two choices, who gets the bigger boost from their VP selection? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/429 "2008-08-20T16:35:26Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] Assuming you’re correct about the two choices, who gets the bigger boost from their VP selection? [/QUOTE] McCain, because his pick reassures conservatives who are iffy about him. I think Romney helps McCain more than Biden helps Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/430 "2008-08-20T16:37:38Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] Assuming you’re correct about the two choices, who gets the bigger boost from their VP selection? [/QUOTE] I would say marginally Obama. Biden’s a good choice and brings some testosterone to the ticket. Romney is an expcted choice, and it helps shore up McCain with his base, but I don’t think he gets anybody excited accross the aisle or has much appeal to indies. I don’t think either gets a _big_ bounce…Veep choices are always seem much more important before they’re made than afterwards, but I think Biden helps Obama’s ticket slightly more than Romney helps McCain’s. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/431 "2008-08-20T16:43:09Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Duff? [/QUOTE] No, Sir Edmund, but I like where you’re going with it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/432 "2008-08-20T16:47:43Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] Assuming you’re correct about the two choices, who gets the bigger boost from their VP selection? [/QUOTE] I have trouble imagining McCain getting a bounce from choosing Romney. He doesn’t shore up any of McCain’s purported weak spots, and based on the primary, people just seem to hate Romney’s guts. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/433 "2008-08-20T16:53:19Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] He doesn’t shore up any of McCain’s purported weak spots, and based on the primary, people just seem to hate Romney’s guts. [/QUOTE] He helps convince people McCain isn’t too liberal. And is there some great groundswell of love for Biden I’m not aware of? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/434 "2008-08-20T16:56:06Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] He helps convince people McCain isn’t too liberal. [/QUOTE] How? In the primaries, voters didn’t buy Romney as a conservative because he talked conservative, but his talk didn’t match his record as governor of Massachusetts. Everybody nailed him as a flip-flopper, or at least a panderer. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/435 "2008-08-20T17:01:39Z")
Exactly. Will it be the Romney who ran to Ted Kennedy’s left on gay rights and abortion, or the Romney 2.0 who ran for President earlier this year? The latter, I assume, but many in the GOP haven’t forgotten the earlier version. I’m surprised Huckabee hasn’t been more prominently mentioned as a potential veep for McCain. I think he’d have a lot to offer McCain: conservative, Christian, Southerner, executive experience, thoroughly vetted, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/436 "2008-08-20T17:07:58Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] And is there some great groundswell of love for Biden I’m not aware of? [/QUOTE] No, but he offers a modicum of reassurance, familiarity and experience. I think he’s a Dem equivalent of Cheney in some ways. An old white guy who’s been around forever and can scrap. I think McCain could still conceivably choose Pawlenty. He’s safe and bland. He won’t deliver Minnesota, but the McCainaanites might think he has a shot at it. T-Paw (as he’s called up here) would get chewed up and spit out in a Veep debate with Biden, though. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnieEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@JohnnieEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnieEnigma)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/437 "2008-08-20T17:10:25Z")
When Obama speaks about his veep choice, its with a “he”… so that leaves out a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/438 "2008-08-20T17:19:52Z")
Obama needs someone (not necessarily a VEEP candidate) who can respond loudly to McCain’s yelling about $3 Million for Bear DNA by pointing out that McCain voted for it. He needs someone who, when McCain shouts out that the Congress should return from vacation, asks McCain when _he_ last attended a Senate vote, and how many _he_ has attended this year. He needs someone who will ask what _McCain_ pays for his suits and shoes - just how much of a good 'ol boy is he? What really happened with the Keating Five? How is it that he suddenly became in favor of torture? When do his analysts expect the first gasoline to be available from his off-shore drilling? How much do they expect, and what percentage of our annual usage is that? Etc. Biden can do those things. I don’t see Bayh as doing them. Not sure at all about Kaine either way. But as I said, this doesn’t need to be a VEEP. But it might help. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/439 "2008-08-20T17:21:52Z")
From [this article today](http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/20/candidates.vp/index.html): > [@](#): > > Sen. Joe Biden on Tuesday told reporters camped outside his Delaware home that it’s not him. “You got better things to do guys; I’m not the guy,” he said. Asked where he would be on Saturday – when Obama is reportedly scheduled to hold a campaign event in Springfield, Illinois, that may feature his new running mate – Biden replied, “Here,” pointing to his driveway. Is this just smoke to get the media away from his house, or truth? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/440 "2008-08-20T17:24:50Z")
Maybe Obama is just waiting for Michael Phelps to get back from China to announce him as his running mate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752.md?page=23)