Oh,
come on. Anyone who believes Braun would be competitive in a Presidential race is living in a fantasy world.
With Carol Mosley Braun as the Democratic nominee in 2004, this would turn into a rout of Nixonian '72 proportions.
It wouldn't matter who her running mate was.
She gets the support of black activist Al Sharpton. It doesn't matter.
She uses the internet. It doesn't matter.
With a candidate as horrible as Braun at the top of the Democratic ticket, this would have spelled disaster for the Democrats, all the way from the Presidency, down on through Governorships, state houses, HR, and the U.S. Senate.
Braun's visit in 1996 to Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha alone would have doomed her and the Democrats.
In spite of U.S. sanctions against Nigeria, Braun visited with the dictator, without notifying or registering with the State Department. Abacha, of course, was noted for his human rights violations, and for his and his family's looting the national treasury to the tune of billions of dollars.
Even more disturbing, upon Braun's return to the U.S., she defended Abacha's human rights record in the Senate.
No, Braun is not a viable Presidential candidate.
And my map is being generous to Braun. Actually, the Deeds map is more accurate. My map is really stretching the imagination.
Bush/Cheney 516
Braun/Nunn 22
