Gephardt or Graham for VP

[ringmastery]

Apparently, Kerry has narrowed the list to Edwards, Gephardt, and Graham.

I don't think he's going to pick Edwards. He is too charasmatic and ambitious and would overshadow Kerry. Graham and Gephardt are just the right flavor of boring and old to not threaten Kerry.

So if it came down to Graham and Gephardt, who would you prefer?

[JI7]

1. he will probably pick Edwards

[ashling]

2. If it came down to Gephardt or Graham

I would prefer Edwards.

[jjmalonejr]

3. Graham...Gephardt....Graham...Gephardt...Hmmmmm....

I guess I'd pick Edwards.

[ashling]

4. I am a little tired of threads

claiming to have the inside scoop. Why should I give any credence to your theory that it "apparently" is down to these 3?

[JI7]

6. just a few days ago it was down to gephardt and vilsack

and a while before it was said that clark was picked. and another report came out that bill richardson was just interviewed about the vp.

[ringmastery]

7. don't take my word for it

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/25/Worldandnation/Graham_on_short_list_.shtml

[Momof1]

5. Clark.....

:hi:

[AntiCoup2K4]

8. Graham would be my choice of those three

nothing really against Edwards, except for his apparent inability to seperate Iraq from Al Qaeda (just like the Fraudministration). That and the statistical fact that two senators on a ticket is not likely to succeed.

Gephardt is guilty of two betrayals which are unforgivable. The first was in the rose garden, the second in Iowa. Yes, goddammn it, I still believe Dean was the best candidate since RFK, so sue me.

Graham was one of my top picks as Dean's VP, and think he would help Kerry in much of the same ways (i.e foreign policy/national security, etc.)

[peekaloo]

31. Graham for those stated reasons.

I would love to see a VP debate.

[Elwood P Dowd]

9. Republicans and insomniacs would love either of those two

and John Kerry would get his ass kicked in November.

If Kerry picks one of them, then I rank him up there
with Bush in the IQ department. No, I mean "down there"
in the IQ department. Might as well select Cliff Clayburn.

[FlemingsGhost]

10. Cobb (n/t)

Dems

[freetobegay]

11. Want Clark!

But don't have a problem with Graham.

[Dookus]

12. Graham

he was my very early first-choice for the nomination. He'd be a great VP selection.

[FlemingsGhost]

14. Bob Graham will be 76 years old in 2012.

Not exactly a "build-for-the-future" strategy if he is chosen as Kerry's VP.

(edited for clarity)

[JI7]

16. vp's don't have to run for president

the strategy with picking graham would be national security/foreign policy experience and bringing florida.

also , graham voted against iwr, but overall he is still much more moderate than kerry is so he might make the anti iwr people happy who tend to be more liberal while still adding a more moderate appeal to swing voters.

personally i still prefer others. but i can understand why graham might be picked.

[FlemingsGhost]

19. Oh, it's certainly understandable.

For precisely the reasons you stated. And I like Graham, sort of ...

However, it's going to take two terms of a firmly centrist (DLC-style) Kerry adminstration just to right the ship, so to speak. Why not groom someone to take the wheel, after the Neo-Con barnacles are scraped from the hull and we are all more comfortable with the idea of listing to port side.

[JI7]

21. he can do that without the person being vp, they can hold another job

in the administration. and kerry can back that person for president. and there is no gaurantee that graham will be vp. but i think kerry is looking at him still because he feels he may need to add more national security experience to the ticket. it all depends on voter perception. if polls show they think kerry is too weak there than someone like graham is more likely to be picked. while it's ok to look to the future, it's even more important to make sure we win now.

[FlemingsGhost]

23. Agreed.

Still, if Kerry can't beat George W. Bush in November, regardless of his VP selection, the Party--and the country--is in dire straits.

Bush himself is the best argument to vote Democrat. Kerry doesn't need to say much, and hasn't really, to win in November. I'm just thinking we have a golden opportunity to strategically build the foundation of a renewed progressive political movement.

[JI7]

24. it's not so simple

bush has already spend millions of dollars attacking kerry as being against the troops or weak on defense. and there are voters who fall for that type of crap. although kerry has done far better than expected in raising funds, he still doesn't have as much as bush has. and bush will have the time between the democratic and republican conventions to freely raise and spend as much money in ads as he wants while kerry will be limited.

if everyone read and paid attention to what was going than it would be easier. and in that case bush would have lost by a large amount in 2000. for now kerry has done pretty good in closing the gap on the issue of iraq and national security. just a few months ago kerry was behind like 20 points on that issue against bush. playing up his military record has helped. but there is still a lot more to be done. i'm not one who thinks the election is kerry's to lose or that depending on people voting against bush will be enough. kerry has to show why people should vote for him and to actually get them to go out and vote.

[FlemingsGhost]

26. If they were handing out indictments, do you feel the same?

Just asking, out of curiosity.

[JI7]

29. i don't know

i know that in 1988 the reagan bush administration had the whole iran contra problem. and michael dukakis led in polls. but his lead vanished just because of the way he answered a question about what he would want to happen if a person raped his wife. the people didn't like the way he answered and he wasn't tough enough so a large amount switched their vote to bush. at that moment the people bought into all those attacks against dukakis about being soft on crime because he opposed the death penalty and that whole willie horton thing.

and the same thing could happen to kerry which is why he needs to be prepared to deal with this shit.

[Dookus]

17. No he's not...

but neither was Dick Cheney.

Not every VP needs to be the groomed next-candidate.

[freetobegay]

18. Ronald Reagan was 69 when his first term started

73 when the 2nd term started. So whats your point?

[FlemingsGhost]

20. Do you really want to use Reagan to bolster your argument?

See post #19.

[JI7]

22. the problem with Reagan was not his age

[freetobegay]

27. No argument Just facts.

Which some people here seem to try to avoid like the plague!

[FlemingsGhost]

28. I'm not sure how to take that, but okay ...

Indeed, those are the facts.

[Knurled99]

13. Clarke is ahead in CaDem website poll

He was at 59.9 percent when I last checked, compared with runner-up John Edwards at 26.2 percent. After that was Hillary Clinton with 4.4 percent. You can get the poll results here or go to www.cadem.org to vote for yourself. (By the way Gephardt came in after Clinton with something like 3.2 percent.)
http://www.cadem.org/site/pp.asp?c=fvLRK7O3E&b=29414

[newyawker99]

30. Hi Knurled99!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Angelus]

15. Neither. I'll stick with Edwards.

:)

[anarchy1999]

25. If Kerry picks either one of the two we are out in a heartbeat.

n/t No more electoral politics for us and go COBB!

[question everything]

32. I still think that the V.P. should not be a former opponent

where all the things that were said by them against each other will surface. I think that this is a very sad commentary on the Democratic leadership if the search is limited to just these nine.

If I'd have to choose I would go with Graham since he was a governor and I think that we need some executive experience on the ticket. He can deliver Florida and he left the race early before he garnered too many negative votes.

If he is going to select a former candidate, what about Dean?

[Bucky]

33. Graham, by damn!

He's a winner & a thinker. Before Clark jumped into the race, I backed Gramps. Now Clark is out, but maybe Graham can come back!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

34. Graham OK. Gephardt, never.

I just can't get past Gep acting as cheerleader for Boobya in the Rose Garden. Kerry's bad enough, add Gephardt, and Cobb gets my vote.