http://www.411mania.com/politics/columns/82562/Obama%5C%5Cs-Vice-President-Is....htmI'm hooking you guys up with buzz.
There's been some breaking news that Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas's Governor—and a highly touted possible VP candidate for Barack Obama—may have inadvertently slipped information regarding Obama's vice presidential pick. Early Monday morning, Sebelius held a press conference to discuss schedules and events planned for the Democratic National Convention that is coming in two weeks.
The topic of discussion for the conference was specifically what Wednesday of convention week will look like. Sebelius told reporters,
"Wednesday night is thematically about securing America's future, it is about honoring our veterans and the families of our veterans... and how to make us safer and move past the divisiveness and into the future."
She then went on to make an intriguing announcement: the Vice Presidential nominee is slated to address the convention on Wednesday night. Typically, this statement would be a standard disbursement of information. However, some reporters who had been paying close attention to Obama's campaign and it tendencies in the past year followed up with a very keen question. They asked if there was a connection between who the VP nominee is and the "theme" of Wednesday night, which again, focuses on national security and veterans/foreign affairs.
Perhaps catching her own slip-up, Sebelius did a small song and dance and then ended by stating, "I think anyone Sen. Obama picks as Vice President will be more than prepared to address those issues."This is certainly an interesting development. Obama's presidential campaign has demonstrated incredible discipline, an excellent sense of timing and a deft grasp of symbolism. Slotting in the potential VP nominee on Wednesday night cannot be a mistake or unintentional. Nothing about the Obama campaign has been has been done as accidental, fortuitous or haphazard.
There must be a reason for the VP candidate speaking on Wednesday. The timing is more than compelling considering the theme of the night. Obama's camp carved out a prime time speaking time for the vanquished Hillary Clinton. Symbolically, this is a smart move as it portends togetherness and mutual support.
Additionally, it is also monumentally symbolic for Clinton to speak on Tuesday night as August 26th is the 88th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which finally gave women the right to vote.
Clinton's Tuesday night slot is emblematic. The VP's Wednesday night slot is foretelling.
At this point, it is still all speculation. However, if it is true that Obama's VP pick will in fact hold gravitas in the areas of military/national security issues, then I would recommend to Obama to go with Joe Biden.
Biden is undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable Senators when it comes to foreign affairs and national security issues. He is well-respected by both sides of the aisle, and he will not take any kind of uppity questioning or blatant character assassination Republicans are bound to throw Obama's way.
If Obama goes with Biden as VP, it would certainly open up the Secretary of State position. I think most voters are pretty sure Biden has that position locked up…unless Obama decides Biden would serve better as the running mate.
If Biden is tapped for VP, then I would like to see Bill Richardson as the Secretary of State. No one else would have as much useful and successful experience as Richardson.
Given these turn of events, I can envision, and definitely feel confident in an Obama cabinet that looks something like this: Biden as VP, Richardson as SOS, Colin Powell/Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense and John Kerry as Secretary of Homeland Security, and John Edwards as Attorney General.
Yes, I said it. You read it correctly. I still want Edwards to be AG. He would kick ass and take names. He would certainly restore faith to our Justice Department, not to mention that little document known as the Constitution.
Oops, sorry for the tangent. Bottom line, if all of this speculation is indeed true about Obama's VP having a tie-in to national security and foreign affairs, Biden would be a very strong candidate for VP. He would be my choice if I were in Obama's shoes, and thinking like Obama must be thinking.
