Is it likely that Howard Dean will have Carol Mosely-Braun for VP?

[the populist]

If Howard Dean gets the nom, that is.

Howard Dean has had trouble energizing the African-American community despite his numerous endorsements by congressmen and other noted figures of that race. I think he might select CMB as his running mate to make up for this failure.

[1floridademocrat]

1. No..

She won't be VP..

Dear lord people.. do you reallly find it THAT hard to belive that she endorsed him because she LIKED him?


I know that might be hard for some people to fathom, but you CAN disagree over things and still like people.

[aquart]

5. It's not like her endorsement brings a flood of votes.

She was an extremely marginal candidate (loved her health plan, though).

He didn't have to help her out.

It's entirely possible she liked him a lot better after he offered to put her on staff.

It's humiliating to lose so completely, even when you had a good reason for being in the race. Here comes Howard Dean letting her know she is still valued.

Myself, I would be very fond of someone who kept me in the game.

And let's remember, nobody was bidding for her favors. She wasn't choosing between offers, was she? As usual, there was just one guy there when it counted.

[Cuban_Liberal]

2. No.

Not a chance in hell, frankly.

[tishaLA]

3. No.

Nor do I think there is evidence that he has had "trouble energizing the African American community."

[meti57b]

4. this is not a good time.

Our nation's survival and even the survival of the world depend on getting the republicans including frontman bush out of office.

Hopefully after that, .... next will come the time for women of excellence like CMB

[Silverhair]

6. CMB as VP candidate would be a sure loser for the ticket.

Remember Mondale? I am afraid that puting a black woman in the VP candidate slot would scare the daylights out of many voters. Yes, it would highly energize the left and blacks, but it would also highly energize the right. It is impossible to energize one side without also energizing the other.

[TLM]

7. Nope... she might be in the cabinet, but not VP.

I think at this point, Edwards is looking like the golden boy for the VP slot.

[Cuban_Liberal]

8. I wouldn't rule out Sen. Graham.

But Sen. Edwards doesn't have a bum ticker--- not that that's any impediment to the VP nod, of course. ;)

[Silverhair]

12. I don't think Edwards would accept.

Most pundits, think Dean will go down in flames if he is the nominee. Edwards will want to keep his options open for the future and not be part of a doomed ticket. Edwards is a southerner and knows that Dean won't play will in the south at all. He also has to think of his own reelection to the senate. He can only be part of a ticket that can be acceptable in the south. Edwards would have to decline such an invitation.

[leyton]

16. I disagree

Edwards would be smart to accept the VP nomination. He is not running for Senate again in NC (Erskine Bowles, who ran two years ago, and Congressman Burr, are running to replace his seat). So if Edwards does not get the nomination for President this year, his options are as follows:

• Get on the ticket as VP. This sets him up for a run in 2008 if the ticket loses (because hey, Nixon did it), or a surer run in 2012 if the ticket wins.
  
• There's no Senate seat open in North Carolina in 2006. He could conceivably run for governor in 2008 (I don't think Gov. Easley would be eligible for re-election) but he would probably not win unless he rode the coattails of whoever runs for President that year.
  
• He can hope for a Democratic win and become Attorney General.
  

So I think it's in his best interests to take the VP nod if it's offered.

[Maddy McCall]

9. If he doesn't at least ASK her, I consider that a shame...

She has been his staunchest defender. He should at least give her the honor of asking her.

If he his true to his word about diversity (gender and racial) he should ask her to be his running mate.

I say this with all sincerity.

[Silverhair]

19. I understand and respect where you are coming from, but...

politics if first about winning. Dean has to consider how the VP choice will help him win. CMB didn't attract enough support to even make it to Iowa. She would not be bringing anything at all to the ticket, and would scare the hell out of a lot of swing voters.

In the sometimes crazy world of politics, the first serious black candidate will have to be a Republican. (Jesse Jackson wasn't a serious candidate because he NEVER had a chance of winning.)The reason for that is sort of like the reason that only Nixon could go to China.

[beaconess]

20. I don't agree

There are plenty of better qualified women and minorities who could be asked, and plenty who don't bring her baggage.

CMB would add very little to anyone's ticket and, in fact, would drag it down badly.

[mikehiggins]

10. No

but he should at least guarantee her a position in a possible Dean administration.

[Maccagirl]

15. A Cabinet Position definately

either as HUD secretary or Attorney General would be my guess.

[Leilani]

11. If you are looking for an African American woman

I think there are better choices than CMB.

I think Eleanor Holmes Norton is terrific.

[lurk_no_more]

13. No

I personally believe there is already an endorsement that has earmarked that post if given to an endorsement at all.


And then there were none!
” JAFO”

[kerry-is-my-prez]

14. Carole Mosely-Braun has been involved in several MAJOR scandals

There is no way that she would be anybody's Vice President.

[patricia92243]

17. What were the scandels?

[kerry-is-my-prez]

22. Illegal campaign contributions, dealings with a brutal Nigerian dictator

Scandals involving illegal campaign finance contributions, using $280,000 of campaign finance funds for personal use, she (and her family) was accused of medicare fraud, she was buddies with a brutal Nigerian dictator and took "secret trips to see him - despite U.S. "sanctions" against him, she was accused of bank fraud and bribery back when she was Cook County's recorder of deeds.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2087542/
The Worst of Carol Moseley Braun
A troubling tale from her past. Is it true?
By William Saletan and Ben Jacobs
Posted Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003, at 10:19 AM PT

Slate continues its short features on the 2004 presidential candidates. Previous series covered the candidates' biographies, buzzwords, agendas, worldviews, and claims to fame. This series assesses the story that supposedly shows each candidate at her worst. Here's the one told by critics of Carol Moseley Braun—and what they leave out.

Charge: According to numerous media reports, Braun made an unsanctioned trip to Nigeria in 1996, lending legitimacy to dictator Sani Abacha. Abacha had voided the results of a democratic election, imprisoned thousands of dissidents, stolen more than $1 billion in government revenue, and set himself up as a major hub in the heroin trade. Nelson Mandela had called Abacha's regime "barbaric."

Braun's trip came just months after Abacha executed nine environmental activists, including playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa. While in Nigeria, Braun praised Abacha and his family's role "in the support and promotion of family values." She also commended the peacemaking efforts of the military governor who had supervised Saro-Wiwa's execution.

Braun's companion on the trip was her ex-fiance and campaign manager, Kgosie Matthews, who had registered with the U.S. Justice Department as an agent of the Nigerian government and had listed Braun's address as his official residence. Matthews then moved to South Africa, where foreign agents aren't required to register. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, when Braun was asked who paid Matthews' expenses on the trip, "she said she had no idea and would not ask him." When Braun returned, her chief of staff resigned in anger at not having been told about the trip.

[the populist]

24. I wouldn't hold the Nigerian thing against her.

African countries are only good when their government is in the hands of US business, apparently.

Wow, quote Nelson Mandela and you've got a strong argument all of a sudden. Nelson Mandela was the boy of the South African white upper class that saw they could no longer OSTENSIBLY control the blacks.

[bigwillq]

18. Don't think he'll choose CMB

I think he needs someone from the south but I'm not sure who yet..still investigating the options

[the populist]

23. If he can energize blacks

in the South it would be huge boost, especially since black turnout has historically been low. I still think the ticket would spell disaster for Dean however.

He probably WILL have CMB as running mate because he's proven over the months to be reckless and bold as hell.

[mitchum]

21. John Lewis would be a far better VP pick