 l-r, Senators John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, Hillary Clinton, Bob Graham, and Gov. Tom Vilsack |
With Democratic Party Presidential hopeful John Kerry about to make his decision as to a Vice-Presidential running mate, speculation is running rampant across the U.S. as to who Kerry will choose next week to take the fight to the Republican Bush-Cheney administration come November.
In a precedent-breaking announcement yesterday afternoon, Senator Kerry said he plans to announce his vice presidential running mate in an e-mail to the more than one million subscribers to his campaign Web site.
“The folks who are going to learn first about my choice are going to be the people on JohnKerry.com. They’re the people who’ve helped carry this campaign. They’re the folks who’ve been part of our effort across the nation; they’ll be the first to know what my decision is.”
Craig Crawford, the White House Trail Mix columnist with the Congressional Quarterly adds his thoughts as to whom Kerry is likely to choose, handicapping the five most often mentioned potential nominees (pictured above), as he holds out for a last-minute Hillary Rodham Clinton VP nod.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau, meanwhile, reports that the “with rumours abundant that Kerry could make his choice as soon as Tuesday, the frenzy is near its peak — with at least three candidates, including Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack atop the list of contenders.”
Let’s face it, choosing a vice-presidential running mate is the great blind date of American politics: There’s lots of mystery and anticipation, but the Presidential nominee ends up with someone he swore he already turned down. For nearly three months now, VP hopefuls have been in an endless audition, crossing the U.S. to see who could raise the most money, and who could get on TV most often to say nice things about John Kerry.
You‘d almost think that whoever John Kerry chooses was important.
The idea that the vice-presidential running mate will have a major impact on this year’s presidential race is, really, moot. Over the past century, maybe two VP hopefuls have contributed significantly to their ticket’s victory — Lyndon Johnson in 1960, who reassured Southerners about a Catholic, and Walter Mondale in 1976, who reassured liberals about a Southerner.
Aside from that, the vice-presidential candidate just gets to campaign in the places the presidential candidate can’t get to — or wouldn’t be caught dead in. As a sage political consultant once declared, “a vice-presidential candidate can bring the ticket one of two things — a state or trouble.”
As for John Kerry, knowing that his choice is unlikely to affect the rest of his life, or the outcome of the election, he’ll probably choose someone he gets along with. Which is the best you can expect from any blind date.
