OFFICIAL Vice President leaks, tips, and speculation thread

[Nym90]

He ran for president in 88 too.

yes i know.  that was somewhat understandable.

but the fact that he seriously thought of running against reagan as a young nobody in 84.  the height of arrogance, if you ask me.

then again, he beat an incumbent senator as a 29 year old nobody.

Yeah, he only had 12 years in the Senate at the time....far too little experience to be elected President.

Heck, if he were Obama, he could've run in 1976 if it weren't for that pesky fact that he wasn't legally old enough yet.

But the fact that he got elected to the Senate technically before he was even eligible is pretty amazing (I'm assuming he turned 30 before January 3).

I turn 30 on December 30 this year; I should've mounted my primary challenge to Levin.

[Nym90]

He ran for president in 88 too.

yes i know.  that was somewhat understandable.

but the fact that he seriously thought of running against reagan as a young nobody in 84.  the height of arrogance, if you ask me.

then again, he beat an incumbent senator as a 29 year old nobody.

Yeah, he only had 12 years in the Senate at the time....far too little experience to be elected President.

Heck, if he were Obama, he could've run in 1976 if it weren't for that pesky fact that he wasn't legally old enough yet.

But the fact that he got elected to the Senate technically before he was even eligible is pretty amazing (I'm assuming he turned 30 before January 3).

I turn 30 on December 30 this year; I should've mounted my primary challenge to Levin.

im 31.  kerry better be glad i gave him a pass this year. 

as for biden, im reading through his political positions.  he really isnt too bad.  i like that he supports affirmative action and he received an 'f' from the nra.

Yes, getting an F from any organization that is designed to protect the interests of one particular slice of the corporate community is generally a good thing.

I'm all for socioeconomic affirmative action (and annoyed that no one has the balls to propose this instead of race-based AA....I challenge anyone to honestly argue that a rich black deserves preference over a poor white....).

[Nym90]

I have a feeling whoever is selected it's going to be someone completely and totally out of the blue, just another trick Obama will be pulling out of his top hat.

So you're thinking Chet Edwards?

He'd certainly be interesting. Be a bit of a poke in the eye to Bush to pick his Congressman as your VP, that's for sure.....and this fact might help keep Bush in the news, which is never a bad thing for Obama.

[Nym90]

I have a feeling whoever is selected it's going to be someone completely and totally out of the blue, just another trick Obama will be pulling out of his top hat.

So you're thinking Chet Edwards?

He'd certainly be interesting. Be a bit of a poke in the eye to Bush to pick his Congressman as your VP, that's for sure.....and this fact might help keep Bush in the news, which is never a bad thing for Obama.

I was actually thinking someone more like Ed Rendell or Gen. Anthony Zinni actually. 

Rendell actually wouldn't be bad either. Attack dog, executive experience, strong Clinton supporter so helps unify the party. Probably takes Pennsylvania off the table (unless McCain picks Ridge).

Lack of foreign policy experience is his largest negative.

[Nym90]

I have a feeling whoever is selected it's going to be someone completely and totally out of the blue, just another trick Obama will be pulling out of his top hat.

So you're thinking Chet Edwards?

He'd certainly be interesting. Be a bit of a poke in the eye to Bush to pick his Congressman as your VP, that's for sure.....and this fact might help keep Bush in the news, which is never a bad thing for Obama.

I was actually thinking someone more like Ed Rendell or Gen. Anthony Zinni actually. 

Rendell actually wouldn't be bad either. Attack dog, executive experience, strong Clinton supporter so helps unify the party. Probably takes Pennsylvania off the table (unless McCain picks Ridge).

Lack of foreign policy experience is his largest negative.

'Cept he kind of oozes slime when you look at him. He and Obama don't mesh well.

Well, those types of people tend to be the most successful politicians....

[Nym90]

That explains pulling out of Va.

No it doesn't.

I don't think that he's totally pulling out of all of these states, but rather suspending his advertising while he takes advantage of free media coverage during the convention, and then resuming coverage in some of these states depending on what his internals tell him.

How much would Kaine have really helped his numbers in Virginia anyways, unlike Bayh who would have definitely thrown Indiana closer to a toss-up.

I would think Mark Warner's keynote address will get plenty of free media attention in Virginia. Anything more in the form of advertising may be overload at this point and a waste of money.

If he's dropped out of Virginia for the duration, that'd indeed be dumb.

[Nym90]

That explains pulling out of Va.

No it doesn't.

Yes, it does.  There will be de-emphasis south of the Potomac.  The race will be in these states:  MI, OH, PA, NM, NH, CO.  Depending on the GOP Veep choice, PA might be de-emphasized.

That'd be bad news for Obama, who would need to win 5 out of 6.

Not sure what VP choice would deemphasize Pennsylvania other than Rendell. Sure, Ridge would bump McCain about a point in PA (though he probably hurts in the T), but it'd still be very much a swing state, still leaning slightly Dem relative to the national average.

Obama's making a big mistake if he's truly giving up on VA. Not that he needs it to win, but he's cutting it awfully close if he's putting all his chips on the Kerry states plus IA/NM/CO as his only victory scenario for winning without Ohio.