CNN just now: Richardson and Nunn potential Dem VP choices.

[BobbyJay]

A pundit on Anderson Cooper said he believes the Dem VP running mate will be either Bill Richardson of NM or Sam Nunn (former Georgia senator).


Richardson yes, Nunn no IMO.

[madfloridian]

1. Who was the pundit.?

That might make a difference.

[BobbyJay]

2. Aa african american guy

He was pro-democratic. I didnt catch his name.

[Bronco69]

3. Sam Nunn can suck it!

He will bring down the nominee no matter who it is. I thought we were rid of him for good!!

[hippiechick]

4. No to both, IMO ...

... the party needs to come together during the convention and one of the 'other candidates' needs to get the nod/accept the nod from whoever is the nominee to solidify both camps behind one platform.

an unknown quantity won't cut it in this election, we need someone whose prepped for battle and has some mainstream name recognition.

did that make sense ?


:hippie:

[BobbyJay]

6. Richardson I can sort of understand.

But Nunn???? wtf

[Doctor Pedantic]

5. Sam's Chances? Nunn.

He's got to be kidding. Nunn is pretty much a Republican. There's no way Dean would choose him as a running mate, and I can't see any other potential nominee doing so, either.

Richardson makes a lot more sense. If he could help with the Southwest, we could probably afford to write off the solid south. Although I, for one, am not really sure that the choice of a VP really helps the guy at the top of the ticket in any event.

[flaminbats]

15. Green eggs and Spam!

Try them with a goat or on a boat, with a mouse or in a house, with a fox or in a box. :7

[Deesh]

7. Sam Nunn --

-- is slated to be the villain in the next James Bond movie. The studio execs pulled Sam aside and offered him the part, and Sam apparently gave 'em the green light.

He's practicing saying "Good evening, Mr. Bond" without an accent even as we speak.

Whether he'll leave his film career to be VP remains to be seen.

[IndianaGreen]

8. A CNN "pundit"?

Sam Nunn is a homophobe and a warmonger. He is as acceptable as Zell MIller or the late Lester Maddox.

[NewJerseyDem]

11. How is he a warmonger?

He was one of the strongest opponents of the first Gulf War resolution. I don't know what is views on the second gulf war are. Did he support that war?

He is better than Lester Maddox!!!! And he is better than Zell Miller. At least Nunn voted with democrats a little bit.

[IndianaGreen]

25. Nunn was one of the two main opponents of gays serving in the military

the other being John Warner. The point is that gays are serving in the military today, as they have since the Revolutionary War. The idea behind eliminating the ban was to do away with the witch hunts on gays. Many hetero women were forced to have sex under threat of being accused of being gay. This may sound medieval to some of you, but it is a fact that happens more often than people realize. Gay rights is everyone else's rights.

I won't support homophobes for political office, anymore than I would support anti-choice or prowar candidates, even if they have a "D" after their names.

On edit:

I forgot to address your comments about Nunn and warmongering. Nunn is a Cold Warrior, like Joe Biden, Feinstein, Kerry, and others. These people are still living in the past--and I won't even go into what a sham and a fraud the Cold War was and about the propaganda that portrayed the USSR as a bellicose expansionist empire (it was none of those things).

Cold Warriors such as Nunn will never agree to disbanding NATO, which has turned into an instrument of American aggression and imperialism. Nunn & Co will also be bitter opponents of Dennis Kucinich's Department of Peace, not because they are concerned about America's security, but because they need fear to keep the wheels of the military-industrial complex moving.

[dkf]

31. Gulf War II - Nunn was against

He is also known for Nunn-Lugar and nuclear non-proliferation.

[IndianaGreen]

37. Non-proliferation is a sham and fraud while the US keeps its stockpile

Non-proliferation is a sham and fraud, another attempt by the US to maintain its hegemony at the expense of everyone else. Nukes are the only deterrent that a country has to an unprovoked American attack and invasion.

The US has never mentioned Israel whenever non-proliferation comes up.

The real issue is nuclear disarmament, which begins here, at home in the USA.

[Tinoire]

9. I saw that- I was stunned n/t

[poskonig]

10. I'd be seriously demoralized if Nunn was on the Dean ticket.

That's about as bad as Lieberman!

[BobbyJay]

12. It makes little sense because we have NO chance in Georgia anyway.

But was Connecticut very relavent either? Ugh

My top choices (who are non-candidates)

Bob Graham (class by himself)



Hillary Clinton
Bill Richardson
Eliot Spitzer
Joe Biden

[GBD4]

22. welcome to the club, BobbyJay!

Let's hear it for Bob Graham! :)

Bob's the sort of folksy guy who would be great for a Democratic ticket. IWR a blank check? Tax cuts are tax raises for grandchildren? GWB's bait-and switches? All these ideas are essentially Bob's. He would bring a lot of quality ideas to the ticket.

[Lefty48197]

13. Bill Richardson is #1 right now in my book

If he could inflame the passions of Hispanic-American voters, it could help us in several contested states, including Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.

[BobbyJay]

14. Yes, he could potentially be very good.

It'd be cool if he could speak Spanish alot during stumps etc.

Imagine Clark-Richardson? With Spitzer as AG. Power trio.

[revcarol]

16. Bill Richardson should be OUT, and I'm from New Mexico!!

He's my governor....says she with mixed feelings.

He does not energize many Hispanics, he's too status quo and DLC-ish, he's rabidly for NAFTA and we lost so many jobs because of this, he's an old establishment type,he's anti-alternative energy even though he says nice things about it,and HE FIRED Wen Ho Lee when he KNEW there was no basis for the charges(this from an insider whom I trust to tell the truth.

If you want a token Hispanic to fill the slot, fine.

But this election is about TURNING THINGS AROUND, not same-o, same-o, compromise on everything, go along with the old guard same as always.
I say NO to Bill Richardson.

[ozone_man]

17. Nice to hear from a NM insider.

So Richardson isn't so good on the environment, huh?

I was thinking more along the lines of Senator Graham from Florida. Dean Kucinich would be my ideal VP (for Dean), but that is based on idealism not necessarily electability. Still, that would be awesome.

[madfloridian]

18. We need to know WHO the pundit was. They could just be saying that.

Didn't anyone catch the name?

[Tinoire]

21. Found 2 sources on-line so far

(did not catch the name of that pundit)

Zell Millier :puke:

Democrats must find a centrist who identifies with the vast crimson area from the famous color-coded map of the 2000 campaign that graphically showed how Bush took nearly all of Middle America. The donkeys must have a candidate who can rely on the traditional Democratic vote but also take enough of the Midwest and, most critically, the South to win the electoral votes necessary for victory. The Democrats must have someone who can raise campaign cash and who has a political tradition necessary to make such a race in the brief time remaining.
Only one person who meets these requirements comes to mind: former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia.
Nunn, at 65, maintains the respect and gravitas he earned during his 24 years in the Senate. During much of his tenure, he was the authoritative voice, not only in the Senate but also in the nation, on defense and foreign policy issues. Since leaving office in 1996, he has been a partner in the prestigious law firm of King and Spalding and has served on the board of many of the nation's major corporations. He could raise millions almost overnight, should he decide to make the race even at this late date.

<snip>
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/102203/opi_20031022025.shtml

And Robert Novak:

A DEMOCRATIC CHENEY?

Influential Democrats in Washington and in the South are privately talking about former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia as vice presidential nominee in 2004 no matter who is picked for president.

Nunn, who served 24 years in the Senate ending in 1997, is seen by the increasingly small number of white southern Democrats in Congress as a conservative ballast to any national ticket that might coax Southerners back to their ancestral party.

In addition, Nunn is viewed by his supporters as a Democratic version of Dick Cheney. He is an older hand (now 65 years old) with no presidential ambitions who has strong national security credentials (as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman).

<snip>

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20031213.shtml


Sam Nunn currently heads the http://www.csis.org/about/index.htm">Center for Strategic and International Studies which is basically a who's who of war-mongering politicians when they're not in office. Check out their 4 major donors for that ogranization- all extreme right wing.

http://www.mediatransparency.org/search_results/info_on_any_recipient.php?60

[BobbyJay]

28. Dean seems almost obsessed with the South voting their ancestry

again. Could having Nunn run with him be part of his new "Southern Strategy"? To get to South to vote like it's pre-1964?

[gate of the sun]

19. as a new mexican

I say a big fat NO to Richardson.......nunn I really don't know.

[BigBigBear]

20. I was talking up Richardson

last summer. Gives us a shot at the West.

[beyurslf]

23. Richardson is a great choice.

He is popular in NM (a state we barley won in 2000) and would be very popular among Latinos.

[hellhathnofury]

24. Nunn, no; Richardson, it appears the NM'ers veto.

My pick is Zinni, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22922-2003Dec22_3.html, if he would accept. If not VP, there is no better pick for the Iraq mess.

I like Graham but I worry about his health.

[GBD4]

26. my take

<<I like Graham but I worry about his health.>>

My gut is to point out Cheney's health status. But I'll admit that it's a rather weak argument to say well hey if their guy is in bad shape ours can be in bad shape too. From what I know, Graham's one-time surgery was more preventative than anything else. He had been told about whatever heart thing he had about nine years ago but was told it was not necessary to operate on until it worsened. When he decided to run for President, he felt it was his duty to have the surgery in order to prevent any emergency surgery from being needed should he be in the White House ultimately. He never had a heart attack or something of that nature. However, he is 67 years old, so there are certainly health risks by default, I will cede that.

[hellhathnofury]

29. It's good to know that it wasn't that serious.

I do worry a bit about his age. My feeling is that we're going to need both halves of the ticket out campaigning hard to win no matter who's on top. I worry about putting a 67 year old man through what certainly will be an intense and tiring ordeal.

[Brian_Expat]

27. I will not vote for Sam Nunn.

I'll write in a ticket before voting for him.

[CoffeePlease2004]

30. Now, would Nunn be the VP for the Dem or Bush?

Sorry, just had to ask. I also wanted to point out that anyone could be a "potential VP". I will leave it up to the nominee who that VP will be. Not some political pundent.

Mike

[Mecil]

32. Richardson is a great choice for many posts

Not the best two choices for VP in my opinion. Either Clark (if he doesn't win the nomination) or a woman (Hillary or CMB) is needed on the ticket. If Clark was the VP, the VP should be put in charge of this war on terror, Clark is the natural man to get a solution on that "war" before it bleeds the US dry. Alternatively I believe there are a lot of votes that can be won by fielding a woman. The democrats should be the ones who first field a woman on a major ticket, and i believe the time for doing that is now.

Bill Richardson is however a great choice for SecState, for instance he did try and keep the diplomacy alive with North Korea, while W. and Powell were busy deceiving the American( and world) public into a war with Iraq.

Nunn is just a "nun" starter...don't know what's the point with having him around.

Zinni would be a great SecDef, someone all the armed forces respect, not just the brass or the flag-waving yahoos. And he had the balls to call the chickenhawkes by their true name in public. His military record is exemplary, and i think the Pentagon is in desperate need to have one of their own in charge for a change, before these chickenhawks crash everything with their pnac dream.

[newyawker99]

33. Hi Mecil!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[blm]

34. The pundit was Carlos Watson in San Francisco and he's a Dean supporter

who said that the Dean camp has been in serious talks with Nunn.

What a slap in the face to all the gay activists who think Dean is their messiah. Nunn is the one Kerry was fighting when he was advocating for gays to serve openly in the military. Nunn is a homophobe.

[JohnKleeb]

36. Dean's been talking to Nunn?

Thats very suprising, Richardson I can understand, and thanks for the pundit's name.

[IndianaGreen]

38. Watson was with Bob Graham, and he is a Clintonite, and Miami Mafia

A Harvard- and Stanford-educated lawyer and entrepreneur, Watson has worked in law, business, politics and journalism. While at Harvard, he wrote for The Miami Herald and The Detroit Free Press. After college, he served as chief of staff and campaign manager for Florida Rep. Daryl Jones. He's also worked with Florida Sen. Bob Graham, Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez and former Democratic National Committee chair Ron Brown. He helped coordinate President Clinton’s 1992 election day effort in Dade County, Florida.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/TV_Info/Anchors&Reporters/P66164.asp

Kerry was fighting when he was advocating for gays to serve openly in the military.

When has Kerry called for the end to Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" and ending the ban on gays in the military?

[leyton]

35. When is the VP choice decided?

Is this decided during the convention? Do possible nominees for Prez already have their VP choices in mind?

[NewJerseyDem]

39. Before the convention

The presumed nominee heading into the convention will announce who the VP choice will be before the convention. That usually happens a little bit before the convention though. For instance, Gore chose Lieberman about a week before the convention started.

I'm sure the presidential candidates, at least the major ones, are all thinking about it, but they wouldn't say so in public.

[jsw_81]

41. Remember 1956?

Stevenson let the convention decide for him. It's unlikely that we'll see that scenario this year, but who knows?

[jsw_81]

40. I'd actually kind of like Nunn

He's not my ideal vice presidential candidate, but he's from the South and a hawk on most issues that are important down there. That could really make a difference in Florida, Arkansas, and Louisiana. And the man is in his sixties so it's not like he's going to run for the top job in 2012.

Remember guys, Kennedy had to pick Johnson to win in 1960. Liberals were angry and disappointed, but if Kennedy had lost we would have had Nixon and a nuclear war over Cuba. So don't stay home and whine on election day if Dean should pick a somewhat conservative running mate. There's too much at stake this year.

[BobbyJay]

42. My thing is, how much more would Nunn help than Graham?

Wouldn't Graham help more? Or Richardson even. I think NM-AZ-NV is just as important as the South.

[GBD4]

43. electoral college

it's better to win FL's 27 electoral votes than GA's 15