Daily VP Discussion: Kathleen Sebelius

[Lunar]

I strongly disagree.   It WILL hurt with some people since she will be seen by some Hillary supporters as Hillary-lite and some people will be more uncomfortable with a minority as president without a white male as VP.  Furthermore, it will reek of tokenism, especially post-Hillary, as Sebelius isn't THAT qualified as to dispel criticisms of her novelty value.

Her advantages may very well outweigh her disadvantages though, but I think the safest choice may very well be North Carolina Governor Mike Easley.  I prefer her strongly over Easley,  but I just thought I'd argue against the notion that she's completely "do no harm."

[Lunar]

I'd like to hear it because I haven't heard any good reason to not put her on the ticket.  I don't count 'HRC supporters will be pissed' as a good reason.  I want reasons against her character or positions.

Err, why are strategic, tactical considerations not valid, 'good' reasons?  Fears of tokenism and possible backlash are both things I promise you that Obama's camp are going to count as potential downsides.  Lack of foreign policy credentials is another possible downside. 

The vast majority of potential VP candidates don't have incompatible positions (except maybe pro-Iraq war in 2003) or character issues (except Rendell/Biden).

[Lunar]

Err, why are strategic, tactical considerations not valid, 'good' reasons?  Fears of tokenism and possible backlash are both things I promise you that Obama's camp are going to count as potential downsides.  Lack of foreign policy credentials is another possible downside. 

I understand your point, but I am horribly optimistic that Obama can make the case for her, since her being a blue gov of a red state underscored Obama's unity message.

No tactical considerations are a recipe for defeat.  Those Clinton supporters who are yelling sexism will be satisfied with nothing but Clinton who will upstage Obama and make him look weak.  Those woman will only support Obama if he picks Clinton.  So they will yell Tokenism, they are yelling sexism today.  Obama needs to move on and pick on qualifications not on tactical nonsense.  To win the Presidency, you need to appeal to the center not the fringes of either party

I disagree completely.  Picking someone to 'appeal to the center'  is a tactical consideration!  There are dozens and dozens of qualified candidates out there, so Obama needs one of them who can underscore his message, carries minimal baggage, and that he gets along with.  Part of that 'baggage' is what criticisms are going to be levied against the VP candidate.

I support Sebelius, but it's silly to ignore the risks.  The trouble is that there is a reasonably strong movement for Obama to select Clinton as VP and selecting what the vast majority will see as a less qualified woman could antagonize a small part of his base.  Yes, it won't be THAT much, but VP's rarely result in direct votes either, so it's a potential loss.

Again, I'm not saying she's a bad VP, it's just that the vice presidential pick is unquestionably one of the most purely strategic decisions a campaign makes.  Cheney was chosen to be part of Bush's 'competence' message, Edwards was chosen to unite the party and bring Southern appeal, Gore was chosen to emphasize Clinton's Southernness, etc.

I think Sebelius wouldn't be a bad pick honestly.  I'm far more skeptical than you all are though of her chances.

[Lunar]

Instead ob being consummed and frozen by the "Clinton" hard noses, how about discussing the Gov's strenghts and weaknesses

Well, those sorts of questions are her main downside along with her lack of national and international experience.  Her strengths have been discussed already: appeal to women, governor of a red state, age-balancer, early endorser of Obama, solid but not mindblowing campaigner (I think), etc.  She really doesn't have any obvious skeletons in her closet or personality defects.

I still think it's a fascinating question to ask to what degree a non-Clinton female VP affects feminists and Voteboth.com diehards, as well as to what degree a generic female VP with a black president could generate Ferraro-like antagonism towards the ticket overall through feelings of tokenism.  I think these are bigger concerns than her stance on Tobacco since she really isn't pro-life or anything that could cause her trouble.