# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/101 "2008-06-21T17:13:00Z")
I remain puzzled by the support Kathleen Sebelius has. While she has recently vigorously fought a proposed coal-fired electric plant in the southwest part of the state (that mainly would benefit folks in other states), I’m hard pressed to think of anything else of significance she has done. Would she deliver Kansas for Obama? C’mon. Kansas hasn’t voted Democratic since we preferred Landslide Lyndon over Barry “He Might” Goldwater in '64. The only other time I know of is 1936 when we chose FDR over Alf Landon, _our own governor_ (meaning, I suppose, that you all can have our governors when you can pry them from our cold, dead hands). And do keep in mind we have just six electoral votes. Hardly worth fighting over. Anyway. If you must, at least let us Kansans figure out who the Lt. Guv is and see if he’s still sentient. Aside: since others in this thread have mentioned staffing of the Obama Administration, this is the place to throw out a thought I had the other day: the perfect job for Al Gore would be - head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Wouldn’t that be fun? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/102 "2008-06-21T17:35:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Aside: since others in this thread have mentioned staffing of the Obama Administration, this is the place to throw out a thought I had the other day: the perfect job for Al Gore would be - head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Wouldn’t that be fun? I hope not. He is just someone who, after a life of wealth and priveledge based on oil money, decided that Environmental issues was his way to gain fame. There are some true environmentalists who live their beliefs in environmentalism without being the “Lets kill the humans to save the scum-sucking moths while we live in houses made of yak-shit” types. Let’s get someone who is worthy of the post. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/103 "2008-06-21T18:13:16Z")
The idea of nominating Sebelius isn’t winning Kansas, it’s putting Republican-leaning states in the West and Midwest in play. Same as the Schweitzer idea, for example. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/104 "2008-06-21T18:19:46Z")
Right, but how would picking her do that? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/105 "2008-06-21T18:21:02Z")
I don’t know enough about her to say. But maybe I should have said it’s more about how that pick would symbolize his efforts to put those states in play. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/106 "2008-06-21T18:40:42Z")
You need a lot of those west/midwest states to add up to the electoral votes of Ohio, Pennsylvania or any other of the big eastern swing states. It’s not really clear to me that they’re worth pursuing unless there’s a very good reason to think that they’ll be easy to pick up. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/107 "2008-06-21T19:18:59Z")
Competing in those states forces McCain to defend them, which reduces his time and funds to go after other states, including the swing states. And nominating someone from the West or Midwest isn’t a sacrifice of Ohio or Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/108 "2008-06-21T19:26:18Z")
[QUOTE=wolfman] I hope not. He is just someone who, after a life of wealth and priveledge based on oil money, decided that Environmental issues was his way to gain fame. [/QUOTE] Gore was already quite famous before he made _An Inconvenient Truth._ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/109 "2008-06-21T19:27:55Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Gore was already quite famous before he made _An Inconvenient Truth._ [/QUOTE] That’s not what he was saying. He was saying Gore picked up the environmental issue to get famous - although I don’t think that makes a lot of sense, since that issue didn’t come into vogue until many years after Gore got into it. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/110 "2008-06-21T19:28:41Z")
First off the idea is to pick a VP that complements his narrative. A Democratic governor of a Red state does that - it embodies reaching across the aisle. It also signal the 50 state strategy is for real. As to chasing those states, winning two or three of them opens up extra pathways to win without depending on Florida or Ohio, although you still of course want to win them as well. Mind you, she isn’t my first choice, but that’s the logic. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/111 "2008-06-21T22:22:14Z")
[QUOTE=gaffa] HHS and not AG? We’re talking about a department that has been run through a shredder and will have to be pretty much rebuilt from the ground up. [/QUOTE] If [Jay Nixon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Nixon) weren’t running for Missouri governor (& likely to win in a walk, people trust him here & that’s not always the case) I’d suggest him for AG. Edwards seems like a good fit for HHS or maybe HUD. I guess HRC might want HHS, tho’. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/112 "2008-06-22T20:54:20Z")
Any one know how much a solid show from “the Jewish vote” could bring in percentage in Florida? I ask as several of the names floated (albeit the unlikely names: Rendell, Rubin, Bloomberg, etc.) have belonged to individuals of that heritage. And if that identity could possibly make the critical difference in a tight Florida race then it makes the downside of those for whom a Black _and_ a Jew would be a step too far worth it. And Florida seems to [at least be tightening up.](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/fl/florida_mccain_vs_obama-418.html) (The larger recent polls have Obama in the lead but the polls do vary significantly depending on who is doing the asking.) And I know that Lieberman wasn’t enough to deliver Florida for Gore … or was he? Now, Rendell has pretty much taken himself off the list, and it doesn’t currently look like Obama needs him on the ticket to pull off Pennsylvania, nor does he really complement the overall narrative other than a bone to the Clinton forces (for whom it will either not be needed or not enough - only Hillary herself would be enough). Rubin is a way way long shot although I was impressed by the analysis in the article I linked to a bit upthread. But Bloomberg - who I have dissed as a choice before - does complement the reaching across the aisle narrative, brings some support from fiscal conservatives while staying true to the socially liberal mindset compatible with Obama’s POV, and brings with him the ability to self-fund to whatever amount is deemed necessary. So I am staying with: Zinni if the choice is to go with both for Obamacans and shore up on security. Maybe Jones there, not Clark. Not Hagel - too conservative. Bloomberg or Rubin would either bring some economic gravitas and maybe some critical votes in Florida if it is real close there. Rubin might be a throw to the Clinton-nostalgic wing as well, and Bloomberg to the Obamacan side. Sebilius to send a message about the 50 state strategy and Dems leading across party lines. Also a throw to the Western region in general. What message does he want to send and what can actually help him either with a state a region or deliver the message? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/113 "2008-06-22T21:34:00Z")
Personally, I’m warming up to the Bloomberg thing. That might not go so well in my neck of the woods, though. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/114 "2008-06-22T21:44:27Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] Personally, I’m warming up to the Bloomberg thing. That might not go so well in my neck of the woods, though. [/QUOTE] Are you referring to the high Muslim population in your area? Cynically they are not too likely to go for McCain. And a Jew on the ticket would clear up the sleeper Islamic operative meme pretty quick for those that cognitively challenged. Might even offset their antisemitic leanings some. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/115 "2008-06-22T22:18:37Z")
[QUOTE=DSeid] Are you referring to the high Muslim population in your area? Cynically they are not too likely to go for McCain. And a Jew on the ticket would clear up the sleeper Islamic operative meme pretty quick for those that cognitively challenged. Might even offset their antisemitic leanings some. [/QUOTE] “I most certainly am”, he replied from the heart of the Arab American Festival that has a major thoroughfare shut down for the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/116 "2008-06-25T15:03:56Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Oh, no, it’s much worse than that. We’re talking about a department that **needs** to be run through a shredder and rebuilt from the ground up. The Justice Department has been systematically packed these seven years with staff carefully vetted for RW ideology – many of whom have civil-service protection. Purging them will be essential, but a daunting challenge. [/QUOTE] [The JD Inspector General is probing that and has released a report:](http://www.startribune.com/politics/20910319.html?location_refer=Nation) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON - Scores of highly credentialed young lawyers and law students were denied interviews for coveted positions at the Justice Department because of an illegal screening process that took political and ideological views and affiliations into account rather than merit, Justice Department investigators concluded in a report released Tuesday. > > In 2006, some applicants for sought-after jobs in the department’s honors program and summer intern program were rejected because they were members of the American Constitution Society or Planned Parenthood or because they expressed concern about gender discrimination in the military, the report found. > > Other students or graduates who were brushed aside included a University of Alabama law graduate, ranked sixth in the class, who had written a paper on the detention of aliens under the USA Patriot Act, a Yale Law School graduate who was fluent in Arabic and a Georgetown law student who had worked for Sen. John Kerry’s presidential campaign. > > In another case, a Harvard Law student was passed over after criticizing the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. > > Justice Department officials told investigators the applicants were turned down for reasons of academic performance. But most, if not all, of the applicants had superior records, and those explanations were not deemed credible, according to the report. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/117 "2008-06-25T17:00:36Z")
[QUOTE=DSeid] Are you referring to the high Muslim population in your area? Cynically they are not too likely to go for McCain. And a Jew on the ticket would clear up the sleeper Islamic operative meme pretty quick for those that cognitively challenged. Might even offset their antisemitic leanings some. [/QUOTE] While Bloomberg won’t get rid of the Muslim votes, he won’t help in shedding Obama’s elitist image, nor will he help him appeal to the heartland. Bloomberg would get my vote even if he were running against Obama, but I don’t see him being useful as a VP. He’s better at running a government than he is playing politics. A national political role, with little power over policy, wouldn’t capitalize on his strongest abilities. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/118 "2008-06-25T18:05:27Z")
Ralph Nader has said Obama is “Talking White.” [We can take him off the Veep short list.](http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/25/nader-critical-of-obama-for-trying-to-talk-white/) (Think how outraged we would be if someone important said that. ) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/119 "2008-06-25T20:59:37Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Ralph Nader has said Obama is “Talking White.” [We can take him off the Veep short list.](http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/25/nader-critical-of-obama-for-trying-to-talk-white/) (Think how outraged we would be if someone important said that. ) [/QUOTE] Heh. Yeh, if ol’ Ralphie had any relevance at all, we’d be steamed. As it is, he’s just a pathetic little has-been flailing about desperately to get some attention. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752/120 "2008-06-26T13:09:25Z")
Ah, Mr. Nader, you’re a very important person in our nation’s history. You’ve done a lot of great things. You’re even the first Arab-American presidential candidate. Now stop talking, please. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-should-obama-pick-as-running-mate/451752.md?page=7)