My VP Shortlist

[Know Your Rights!]

How about Dick Celeste?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Celeste

[Know Your Rights!]

How about Dick Celeste?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Celeste

I think he's been out of elected office for too long.

Nunn has been out of office since 1997. I think his recent experience as an Ambassador and academic helps to mitigate those concerns. And besides, whoever is tapped for VP is going to be in the spotlight anyway.

[Know Your Rights!]

Celeste has a very broad range of experience that covers foreign relations (ambassador, member of Council on Foreign Relations), economics (establishing a consulting firm), military/security (sits on various boards including Independent Strategic Assessment Group, co-chair of Homeland Security Porject), health care (was in charge of DNC's health care plan in '93), and public service (director of the Peace Corps).  But he'll be almost 71 on election day and I don't know, he might look even older than McCain.  The age issue is a big one.

My feeling on age differs from most folks here.  Could be because I am an olde pharte, I dunno.  But see my earlier post.  I don't think Obama is assailing McCain for being too old, though clearly Obamaniacs and surrogates are.  It's a stupid reason to oppose a candidate.  Now if McCain is unhealthy, that's another issue.

As to Obama's running mate, I still say the more snow on the roof, the better.  It will calm a lot of voter jitters. 

I agree, though I'm certainly not a geezer like JSojourner.

Celeste has a great resume. Here's a recent picture: he's in the middle.


His health should be the foremost concern (as it should be for any candidate, regardless of age). And at any rate, he has a solid resume and is a jack of all trades. I'm surprised he hasn't been mentioned yet by the pundits. Also, regarding his lack of popularity: after Taft, I'm sure most Ohioans are nostalgic for any past Governor.

Also, how about another older dark horse: Gaston Caperton? Two term Governor of West Virginia, President of the College Board. http://www.collegeboard.com/about/association/presidentbio.html

[Know Your Rights!]

It's true that Obama is not explicitly making the case that McCain is too old to be president.  He's not doing so because it would be in bad taste, and because he doesn't need to.  Plenty of voters will independently conclude on their own that he's too old.  Thus, there is a slight drawback to Obama picking a running mate who's over 70: He legitimizes the idea that even old geezers are capable of running the government (doesn't really matter that Obama was never explicitly arguing otherwise).

I see this only becoming an issue if a large portion of the electorate feels that Obama will somehow leave office before his term is up.

[Know Your Rights!]

It's true that Obama is not explicitly making the case that McCain is too old to be president.  He's not doing so because it would be in bad taste, and because he doesn't need to.  Plenty of voters will independently conclude on their own that he's too old.  Thus, there is a slight drawback to Obama picking a running mate who's over 70: He legitimizes the idea that even old geezers are capable of running the government (doesn't really matter that Obama was never explicitly arguing otherwise).

I see this only becoming an issue if a large portion of the electorate feels that Obama will somehow leave office before his term is up.

It doesn't matter if they think he'll leave office before the term is up.  If Obama picks a running mate who's as old as McCain, he'll effectively be making the statement "No, McCain is *not* too old to be president" (otherwise, why would I be picking someone his age as my VP?)".  This might persuade some people into thinking "Gee, I guess McCain really isn't *that* old...."  Of course, the number of votes that might actually switch because of this is miniscule, but the same is true of all VP considerations.

I certainly see the logic, but I don't think that people expect the VP to be running the government (no more Cheneys ). If concensus was that Obama picked Celeste because he was setting him up for a run at the Presidency in 2016, then this could be a concern. I mean geez, George Mitchell is considered by some to be a contender for VP. He's certainly a stretch, but if we're looking at candidates based on their merits, I think someone like Celeste or Caperton have positives that override this issue. As long as they can still drive and walk on their own (with great facility), the Obama campaign is probably good with an older pick. And the people that think McCain is too old probably wouldn't vote for him anyway. Have there been polls on this?

Also, I think we've got to think out of the box. A lot of the "younger" VP options seem rather weak to me - with the exception of Schweitzer.