Analysis that Doesn’t Really Matter: The Veepstakes

We’ve seen over and over again that it would be too difficult for the media (especially the cable TV “news”) to feature significant substance, so instead they focus on water cooler chatter. Big surprise. The topic that’s been swirling around ever since the Obama/Clinton saga ended has been who Sens. Obama and McCain would choose as their running mates. Now, I could criticize the media for not covering substantive information all day long. But come on, we all enjoy a little bit of pointless chatter now and again, so here’s my take on “The Veepstakes” for the Democrats

I’ll go off a few names that the infamous “mentioner” has thrown out there.

Hillary Clinton Yeah, we’ve heard why she shouldn’t be considered. She ran against Obama and said some things that may not have been so complimentary. Bill, as Obama said, would be “an issue.” But what about the good part? Hillary Clinton got about half the votes in the Democratic primary–over 17 million. These included new voters, older women who are have been excited enough for the first time to get involved in the primary process and the Democratic Party. Not to mention the fact that she has been a pretty damn good Senator from New York, who in 7 years of service, has gotten more support since she started.

Chris Dodd On one side you see an excellent resume. He has served over 30 years in the Congress, served in the Peace Corps, speaks fluent Spanish and is a leader on fiscal issues as well as a strong defender of civil liberties. But then there’s the other side: no matter what he does or how passionately he argues his causes, people don’t catch on. Despite literally moving his family to Iowa months before the January caucus, he ended up dropping out the same night after coming in 7th place. Oh, and then there’s that whole potential mortgage scandal. Conclusion: Dodd seems like a good guy, but definitely comes with issues the Obama campaign would need to work on.

Joe Biden There’s a lot that I like about Joe Biden. He knows his stuff on foreign policy and knows how to communicate his positions clearly and directly. He’s a fairly strong campaigner, and though he did not fair well in the primaries, he did attract somewhat of a cult following in several of the early states. Of course, he has a pretty well-documented problem with sticking his foot in his mouth. For examples, click here or here.

Bill Richardson Richardson was supposed to be a dark horse this year for the presidential race, and while he put out some good TV ads they didn’t really do anything for him. He has been a talented and popular governor, and has possibly the most impressive resume out of those who ran for president in the 2008 primary. But he never really connected with voters. I remember having a conversation with one person and we wondered where his campaign was, and why we just weren’t hearing more out of him. This makes me unsure about his ability to bring much to the ticket campaign-wise, but he’d be a fine VP.

John Edwards Here’s a guy who has already been through the whole running mate thing before, and honestly, it didn’t pan out too well. The Edwards campaign had several disagreements with the Kerry campaign on strategy. At times Edwards seemed uncomfortable when he was supposed to be the attack dog and really wasn’t a great advocate for the ticket. This year, though, Edwards seemed to have a reinvigorated passion for the campaign trail, and certainly didn’t mind attacking the Republicans, a role traditionally reserved for running mates. Edwards didn’t deliver any southern states for Kerry in 2004, but with Obama’s enhanced appeal in states like North Carolina, Edwards could even be helpful electorally, an oft-mentioned quality of potential running mates, but rarely a factor.
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Like I said before, none of this analysis really matters. One guy is going to end up making the decision for the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, and that’s Barack Obama. There are more candidates for the job, several not often mentioned but good candidates nonetheless. I might write about them later. But for now, ponder this, then forget about it. I’m sure I’ll be supporting Obama/Whomever 2008.