In the current issue of Newsweek, Eleanor Clift has an article on Jim Webb, "A Man With a Plan: Why Webb would rather stay in the Senate than be Obama's veep." In short, Webb says he took his name out of the picture in the 2008 Democratic VP sweepstakes because "he thinks he can accomplish more as a U.S. senator than he could as Barack Obama's running mate." Webb reassures disappointed fans, pledging, "I'll still be around for Barack Obama."
No question, Eleanor Clift is correct when she writes that Webb is not the typical freshman US Senator who has "about as much standing in the seniority-conscious body as an illegal alien, which is to say none." To the contrary, "Webb has actually passed a substantial piece of legislation" - the GI Bill, which he introduced "his first day in the Senate and 18 months later it passed with 58 co-sponsors in the Senate, including 11 Republicans, a rare achievement for a newbie to Capitol Hill."
So, with Jim Webb out of the picture, who would make the optimal running mate for Barack Obama? Here are four names that jump out at me as intriguing.
1. Wes Clark: Brings tremendous national security and military credentials to the ticket, and ultimately to the White House. A former Republican but also a strong progressive, Clark is not a lifelong politician or a Congressman, but a 4-star general from Arkansas. Those are all very good things, especially to an outside-the-box candidate like Barack Obama. Finally, picking Clark would help to re-energize a somewhat demoralized activist base, particularly given the way the media irresponsibly and outrageously twisted his remarks to falsely imply that Clark had somehow denigrated John McCain's military service. Picking Clark would basically give a big middle finger to the corporate media, and also demonstrate that the Obama campaign is not going to stand by while a great Democrat like Wes Clark is unfairly torn down by the Republicans and their allies in the corporate media.
2. John Edwards: Very popular among the netroots and the activist base more broadly, Edwards brings a strong dose of (much-needed) economic populism to the ticket. The fact that Edwards was born in South Carolina and was US Senator from North Carolina is also a plus.
3. Anthony Zinni: Another four-star general, similar rationale to Wes Clark except that Zinni is apparently better liked within the military than Clark is. On March 3, 2006, Zinni endorsed Jim Webb for U.S. Senate. In addition, Zinni has been a public critic of the Bush administration and did not support the decision to go to war in Iraq. I particularly like the fact that, in 2007, Zinni worked with 11 other retired military commanders on a report entitled "National Security and the Threat of Climate Change." The report stated that global warming would act as a threat multiplier to global conflict.
4. One other name that I've heard mentioned is Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE). I think that Hagel's a good man, but I'm uncomfortable with him because he's a conservative. On the other hand, Hagel has leveled blistering criticism at the Bush Administration, including the great line, "To question your government is not unpatriotic - to not question your government is unpatriotic." Anyway, it certainly would be an outside-the-box pick if Obama went with this Republican U.S. Senator from Nebraska.
UPDATE: Speaking of Hagel, check this out ("Fueling VP speculation, Obama heading to Iraq with Hagel, Reed"). Oh yeah, Jack Reed; he graduated from West Point, served as an Army Ranger and a paratrooper, left the army in 1979 with the rank of captain, and serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. All that would certainly add some national security and military experience to Obama's ticket!
Good topic, I love all of the talking head references...partly because I equate all of the "political insiders" to sports analysts weekly making inaccurate guesses about the future.
I look forward to the ensuing comments, assuming everyone is not lying on a beach towel somewhere.
The media hit on Wes Clark for telling the truth may have hurt his chances. Some in the party also weren't impressed with his campaigning during his presidential run. He's a good man.
Zinni is great! So is Reed.
There is still lots of speculation about Sebelius of Kansas, but I just don't see that.
(I could see Hagel as Sec. of Defense.)
Then, last week John Edwards wouldn't rule out taking the second spot again.
Summer fun every four years...the veep guessing game.
For Barack Obama's campaign, picking Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine would be a decision based on loyalty - a reward for one of the senator's earliest supporters during the primaries, and a preference to proceed to the White House with someone who knows how to occupy the No. 2 slot.
I am fairly confident that Tom Perriello and Judy Feder are two such people. I am less confident but hopeful of Mark Warner and Glenn Nye, and much less confident of Gerry Connolly. We'll see, I guess.
Lets all pay great respect to Senator Hagel, give him lots of hugs and so forth. He is an outstanding independent voice, so badly needed at this moment in our national life. Senator Hagel has been consistent in speaking out about the importance of a bipartisan foreign policy for a long time and he deserves credit for that.
A few days before Webb made it official that under no circumstances would he run for VP I was trying to figure out who Kaine should appoint to take Jim's vacated seat and the name that kept popping up in my little pea-size brain was Boucher. A couple of big plusses for Boucher are: 1.) He has good name reconition statewide in Virginia and is well known as a moderate (not too liberal for the rural/military, etc., voters; and not too conservative for the liberal voters. I think he is also farily well known nationally, partly because of his years of good work in the House and, of course, the fact that he quickly got on board the Obama campaign 2.) Rick is very well-liked in the 9th CD, which is generally republican-leaning, and he could help Obama carry SWVA by a substantial margin. In this same vein, Rick endorsed Obama early in the primary campaign and has already made the case for Obama there. The voters in SWVA have great respect for Rick and take what he says seriously. 3.) I kept worrying, though, about who could run for Rick's vacated House seat and not risk a loss to the GOP. But then two things suddenly occurred to me: Jon Bowerbank is also very well known and highly respected in the 9th; and because of Rick's popularity the GOP has no one they could recruit to run against Jon and be competitive. I think the context of who could replace Rick if he is the VP choice is pretty much the same as it would have been if Webb had been selected as VP, except that it makes this a two-step process instead of a three-step process.
Rick is a seasoned and skilled campaigner, brings no negative baggage and would enjoy the full support of the party leadership.
So, my "vote" for VP is Rick Boucher.
T.C.
The problem is that typically, you bring in an outside the box candidate because you feel that you are in a weak position at the top of the ticket. So, it's worth the risk to bring an unknown quantity in.
The only time I can remember such a candidate possibly helping was Cheney in 2000, but, of course, Lieberman was an even more of the outside-the-box choice that Cheney.
Just for fun, let's compare to an RK poll conducted a year ago, in July 2007...overwhelmingly positive. So what happened in the last year?
The problem with Zinni or Boucher is that there is no telling how either of these candidates would hold up under the glare of such intense, sustained scrutiny as the presidential campaign.
As for Hagel, he is too conservative. The guy seems very honest, and I appreciate that, but on virtually every issue other than Iraq, he is opposite of me and probably most of you. He'd be a good Secretary of Defense, though.
Reed would be a great choice for the Pentagon.
William Perry, his successor for the rest of the first term, had served in the Carter administration and was also a Democrat.
Thanks for the correction.
I wonder what an Obama/Reed ticket's campaign slogan would be?
On this issue, as on others (e.g., abortion), Hagel is essentially the same as Dick Cheney. Is that really what we want?
Progressives need to make their voices heard to the Obama campaign that they are absolutely against positioning a right-winger one heartbeat away from the presidency.
Obama is going to choose a VP who is broadly acceptable to most of the Party. Since Hagel only agrees with us in the foreign policy area, he is a logical choice for an appointed position in that field.
I hope you're right about Hagel not having a chance for VP. But with all the love being shown by progressives to Hagel, I'm not so sure that he's off the table as an option -- that's my concern.
I appreciate Hagel's potential gift offering on Iraq. That is my big wish from fairy godmother right now. It would make this campaign fun for us.