Democrat tickkets 04?

[Ben.]

At the moment (and  may I say I realise we have Gephardt and Edwards supporters on the board) it looks like Dean is going to pile money into Iowa and blow Gephardt out of the water and then coast to the nomination with perhaps an act of defiance from Clarke or Edwards in SC…

So who does Dean pick as his VP? In my view you have a very wide selection however I would say the leading contenders are…

1.)Clarke: Despite entering the race he’s still gota be the number one for the VP most dem activists see a Dean/ Clarke ticket as the best of both worlds with each candidate papering over the others weaknesses. But both have the weakness of being inconsistent at times but Clarke can still equal the Republicans on national defence and Dean can tout his Vermont Governor record of fiscal discipline and his crowd pleasing (that would be a democratic crowd) “Iraq war has been a failure but we have t solider on” and his “I am a doctor therefore I can speak with authority on healthcare and many domestic issues” (plus I can spin a nifty bio-ad to win supporters in swing states).

2.) Graham: Decent, Moderate, Calm, he is all these things and he’s southern but he has health problems and added to this he is can be boring at times. However he has senate experience which in a VP would be what you are looking for especially when a President Dean would have to negotiate with a Congress that will almost certainly be Republican.

3.) Bill Richardson: Governor of New Mexico his background as a former House member, United Nations ambassador and now as a Cabinet secretary makes this California-born Catholic Hispanic with an Anglo name a player. He could counter the appeal of Bush amongst Hispanics and so lock up states that are probably democratic but will require the nominee’s time in campaigning or tip states like NM and AZ into the Democratic column (an other state where this will be important will be Florida where in 2000 Hispanics largely deserted the democrats) in addition to this he could help compel Hispanics in states such as Georgia, Texas and the North to register and get out the vote for Democratic congressional candidates.

4.) Evan Bayh: Moderate, Very Moderate but not too moderate. Attractive young looking with gubernational experience in a GOP leaning state all of which is a plus. The down side for Dean would be that Bayh is from the DLC and Dean and the DLC have never been the best of buddies but still it is a possibly successful ticket.

Any More Thoughts?

And How might these tickets play out against Bush/Cheny?