The 2008 Veepstakes [View All]

[babylonsister]

The 2008 Veepstakes

Who should round out the Democratic ticket? Prospect writers and editors weigh the merits and demerits of some of the oft-mentioned contenders.


The Editors | February 26, 2008



Though the Democratic presidential contest has turned into a longer-running show than anyone could have imagined, it's not too early to begin the quadrennial quest for the perfect Democratic vice-presidential running mate. Accordingly, the Prospect asked a group of journalists and politicos to name their picks and state their reasons, and what follows are our sketches -- please do not misconstrue them for endorsements -- of some of the most interesting possibilities. For the record, the two names our mentioners mentioned most frequently were Jim Webb (could bring Virginia and white working-class males and provide some national-security experience on either a Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama ticket) and Joe Biden (provides foreign-policy bona fides and age to Obama's youth). And, for the record, the names of Govs. Sebelius and Napolitano came up as running mates for Obama, not Clinton.

Since Super Tuesday, however, the calculus on the veep question has shifted. If Obama and Clinton continue to split the vote down the middle, all logic suggests that she (if she wins the nomination) will offer him the No. 2 spot as the best way -- maybe, the only way -- to ensure that both halves of the party march off arm-in-arm to the fall wars. Should Obama win the No. 1 spot, the reverse logic is also compelling, though it's harder to see Clinton accepting the veep spot than it is Obama. Conventional wisdom hardly suggests putting a woman and a black man on the same ticket, but if she brings the base and he the independents to the polls, conventional wisdom may prove mighty foolish.

That said, the woods are full of other options, and here they are.

-- Harold Meyerson

JIM WEBB

The freshman senator from Virginia, former marine, former Reagan administration official, and accidental Democrat, Jim Webb has not only walked away from last year's gridlock on Capitol Hill politically unscathed, his reputation has been burnished by the trials. Politico named him the congressional rookie of the year, announcing in a headline, "Anti-war Webb was talk of Senate from Day 1." And he consistently tops the list of notable names in the vice-presidential sweepstakes.

The reasoning is pretty straightforward: He has the military credentials, including two Purple Hearts, and is always up for a fight. As a 62-year-old white man from a "Southern" state, he would provide any kind of balance needed to a ticket led either by a too-well-known woman senator from New York or a not-very-well-known young black senator from Illinois.

He also could, potentially, bring Democrats a red state that would be an enormously helpful addition to their electoral victory map. Virginia has been trending Democratic in recent years with strong back-to-back gubernatorial wins in 2001 and 2005 (Virginia governors are limited to a single term), and Webb's shocker of a victory in 2006 over George Allen, who was at the time one of the front-runners for the GOP presidential nomination. Webb's name on the ticket may be exactly what is needed to turn Virginia blue in November.

But Webb's past, by Democratic standards, is checkered. He was Ronald Reagan's secretary of the Navy; he expressed very public concern about the ability of women to lead men in combat, and he loves, loves, loves his guns. Not the stereotypical traditional Democrat.

more...

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_2008_veepstakes