With All The Angry Accusations and Criticism Between The Dem Candidates...

[arwalden]

... will the eventual Democratic nominee be able to CONSIDER choosing a VP from the rest of the field?

Or will the bad-blood and hard-feelings run so deep that the eventual Democratic nominee will be forced to choose a VP from elsewhere?

Sometimes things seem so heated and vicious that EVEN IF the eventual Democratic nominee were to consider selecting a VP from the current slate of contenders... I have to wonder if any of them would even ACCEPT the offer.

-- Allen

[sangh0]

1. I wouldn't worry about it, Alan

VP's are not necesarily former contenders for the nomination. Oftentimes, there's no advantage to choosing one of the nominees competitors for VP.

I understand your concern about the bickering, and even share. I'm just saying that the VP pick isn't the most important result of the competition and the bad blood that might result from the bickering.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

2. There will be a coming-together, a closing of ranks

It always happens that way. The sniping will end. Those who didn't get the nomination will make conciliatory speeches and promises to back the nominee.

There may well be candidates who will not consider a VP slot, but I don't think it will be because of the accusations and criticism.

Thanks.

[blm]

3. The three I see aligning most policy-wise

are Kerry, Edwards and Clark. And I have no doubt that is intentional.

[ShaneGR]

4. Anyone notice Edwards has stayed above the fray???

Just pointing that out.

[w13rd0]

7. Not completely...

...he has offered some criticisms, but they seldom get much ink. He is the "nice guy" of the race though, and CMB is the "nice gal". I think both of them are Most Likely to Start a Love-fest ;)

[quinnox]

5. Although I think it is very possible the nominee

will choose outside of the field for his vp pick, the scenario in the post only applies if Dean is nominated. He has caused a lot of bad blood because of his down and dirty campaigning, the other candidates have been polite in their pointing out of differences between them, with the exception of Lieberman.

Kerry, Gephardt, and Edwards all seem to get along fairly well.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

6. It's possible that they're getting along

because they're not the front-runners. Not definitely-for sure, but possible.

Thanks.

[wysimdnwyg]

9. Kerry, Gep. & Edwards only get along because...

They are untied against the frontrunner, Howard Dean. If one of them were the frontrunner, the others would unite against him.

As to the original question, I agree that things will calm down as the nominee becomes clear. I still think it's possible one of the losing candidates could be tapped for Veep, but the tone of the campaign is making that less likely. Prior to his joining, Clark was mentioned often as a running mate for Dean (and vice-versa). As Clark has joined in the bashing of Dean, and as Dean gives it right back, the possibility of this union has seemingly evaporated completely.
Most likely, we'll see the nominee (esp. if it's Dean) choose someone from outside of Washington. People are fed up with politics as usual, and will rally around someonenot a part of the establishment.


All of that said, I think the bashing going on now is a good thing - so long as it doesn't get out of hand. The eventual nominee will need this experience for the general election. Rove is going to pull out all the stops, and the Dems need to have practice dealing with the ugly part of elections.

[mikehiggins]

10. Huh?

What Dean bashing has Clark involved himself in?

[Rowdyboy]

8. Depends whether they think they need to....

and what is said between now and the convention. It happened in twice in 45 years: 1980 Reagan-Bush, 1960 Kennedy-Johnson.