Dan Drezner is commenting on various reactions to the possibility that Senator Kerry will pick Representative Gephardt as his running mate. My advice is of course highly suspect – I’m a Republican, after all, and we’re tricksey and sly, yes, yes, my preciouss – I think that my opinion’s still relevant, and my opinion is that Gephardt is very, very likely to get the nod. As I understand it, Kerry knows and likes the man – which is… well, I was going to say “reportedly not his reaction to Edwards”, but I can’t find the link now, so take some extra salt with that – and I’m getting the general impression that the Kerry campaign is doing its level best to avoid surprises and mistakes. Gephardt may not be the best choice, but he’s certainly a known quantity.
Now watch me go be proved wrong within 24 hours…
Moe
Gephardt is death.
EH, you should be aware that your statement will have a unintended special meaning for Terry Pratchett fans, and I guarantee that 90% of the ones that peruse this site are wincing as they read this. 🙂
EH is absolutely correct. As a native St. Louisan I still have many, many contacts there. Gephardt is a lightweight. He brings very little to the ticket that Kerry doesn’t already have. And goodness knows he will not energize the base. Look at the energy he brought to his primary campaigns and you’ll get the idea.
If Kerry really wants to win the Presidency he’ll nominate someone who’ll electrify the base: an African American. And if he can’t identify a qualified African American VP candidate shame on him and shame on the Democratic party.
Kerry-Gephardt… it’s as if someone out there is saying to all those ABB-ers, “well, you say you’d vote for a potted plant over Bush, now’s your chance to prove it!”
Kerry-Gebphardt, the dead white guys ticket.
That would be like Perry Como doing a duet with himself.
NOOOoooooooooooo!
that is all.
I really hope Gephardt is the alleged front-runner just to make the actual selection look really good by comparison.
(The actual selection, BTW, should be former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who lost in 2002 after removing the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag.)
“As I understand it, Kerry knows and likes the man – which is…”
Just like Kennedy and Johnson! Roosevelt and Wallace! Eisenhower and Nixon! Nixon and Agnew!
… a vastly less good reason than winning?
I’ve yet to see anyone for Gephardt who wasn’t the leader of a union. Or a Republican.