UPDATE: Kerry begining to pick....

[zachman]

He should set up some suspense at the convention and have everyone on his short list speak at the convention, and Kerry tells all but one of them "You're fired."

I think he will make a surprising pick so Edwards and Graham probably won't be the pick.

[zachman]

I don't. He voted to repeal the estate tax, and he like Zell Miller, is only useful to the dems. in the vote for majority leader.

[zachman]

You're right, Breaux is quite a bit different than Z. Miller, but still a flimsily voting democrat.

ABC News and MSNBC consider Washington and I think Illinois to be a swing state and Virginia or Colorado not to be, who determined these?

[zachman]

Change your 'Deaniacs for Edwards' banner Miamiu.

It is so sad when you'r preferences don't win. Its always the same establishment candidate who wins and I am always frustrated. The media must be saying to themselves that this will be an incredibly boring.

[zachman]

The last four new nominees are rarely exciting. Dole, Gore, Bush and now Kerry.

[zachman]

Where would Kerry, Gore, and Bush be without their connections?

They would probably all be buried under the waters off of Vietnam.

[zachman]

Where would Dole be without his Viagra?

Liddy Dole wouldn't have been motivated to leave for the Senate. Bob Dole would have answered phones for the Red Cross.

[zachman]

I still have never heard Bayh speak, but based on crudentials he looks solid.

[zachman]

The VP choice is crucial for Kerry.

His deficiencies are:
   Is branded as a liberal
   Is from the northeast (Why do you hate us?)
   Is a boring speaker
   Is a flip-flopper
   Is tough and rigid, and that makes independents hesitant to vote for him.

The VP needs to reduce all of these.
 
Edwards- Can do all of these, but he too is a bit of a flip-flopper.
Bayh- I don't know much about him, but that does isolate the south. He has raised money.
Graham- fixes the rigid image one perfectly, but he too is a boring speaker.
Warner-  I don't know much about him
Richardson- a less attractive Edwards, but a latino.

I think Edwards would be the strongest, and the media has stopped branding him a loser, although I will flip-flop on my VP pick a dozen times.

[zachman]

Edward's will not outshine Kerry, because the media has already come up with its own excuses to say Kerry is superior. Edwards is middle-class so he may have the same type of effect that Gephardt or Bayh would have in the midwest. Edwards would be helpful in Iowa, and NH and Florida, although other picks would certainly be as well. Go for the national strategy.

[zachman]

That's a real fair place to evaluate personality- C-SPAN. Although judging by that directory, Dean was exciting. He had one good event listed, when he spoke at the 2000 convention.