Gen. Anthony Zinni (Ret.) or former-Sen. Sam Nunn for Obama VP?

[Unsane]

Jonathan Alter mentioned them as a possibility last night on KO. What say you? I'd probably lean towards Nunn, as he has more political experience. Some pundits have dubbed him "the Democrats' Cheney." Not sure that's a positive, but he would surely bolster Obama's FP creds. Nunn, a popular Georgian, might legitimately put The Big Peach into play. But at nearing 70, he may be a bit old (McCain is the same age, though, so this concern shouldn't be hugely important this cycle).


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

[ulysses]

1. none for Nunn. n/t

[hedgehog]

2. Wasn't Nunn playing footsie with Bloomberg and talking about a third party? nt

[ulysses]

34. last I heard, yeah.

He's definitely among the "let's play nice with the Republicans" crowd. Blech.

[Nite Owl]

3. Not Nunn

no way.

[Unsane]

4. Why?

[grantcart]

10. Hes gone way right in the last few months. I used to really like him

[Nite Owl]

38. Nunn was the one who

derailed Clinton after his election in '93 when he wanted gays to be allowed openly in the military. The whole don't ask don't tell mess was his compromise. He is way too conservative.

[TexasObserver]

5. Good God, No!!

These VP choices someone pulls out of their ass are just that.

We will need a vibrant VP nominee who can excite the base to GOTV. Sam Nunn is a DINO, for God's sake. OK for a hardcore Southern state, but not OK for the national ticket.

[Unsane]

7. Obama will excite the base and GOTV.

Not the VP.

The VP needs to do two things: (1) bolster Obama's foreign policy credentials, and (2) put a purple state into play.

With Obama's incredible Georgia primary victory, a ticket with he and Nunn (who appeals to many Georgians) may actually fufill those requirements.

[TexasObserver]

12. you're dreaming

The ticket has to be more some fantasy package that someone thinks might help win a state or a region.

The person has to be ideologically acceptable to the base. That ain't Sam Nunn.

Look, you asked for opinions. I gave you mine. I think such speculation at this point is almost a complete waste of time, so I don't really want to spend ten posts explaining why Sam Nunn will never be on the Democratic ticket.

[Schema Thing]

6. Zinni would be great.

He's very apolitical and he's been a staunch critic of the Iraq war since well before it started.


Just not sure he is at all interested in the job, however. Any news that would indicate otherwise?

[Neecy]

8. Nunn - lol

The same asshole who stuck the knife into us during the gays in the military debate? I don't think so.

[Thrill]

9. Why does every election. People try to push Sam Nunn down our throats

as VP. I mean every election. Clinton should pick him, Gore should pick, Kerry should pick. NO NO NO NO

[TwilightGardener]

28. I noticed this--he's the go-to Dem hawk. But a has-been.

[Unsane]

11. Bob Graham is another possibility IMO.

[DiverDave]

13. Richardson, or Clark

Now THEY would help, imho

[Az_lefty]

26. totally agree...

Richardson would bring in the Hispanic vote (Obama needs a lot of help here) and Clark would bring ton's of experience that the "hero" McCain really doesn't have.

[OzarkDem]

14. Full conservative ticket

Obama would lose all but the conservative vote.

[Unsane]

16. What about Obama's voting record is conservative?

This should be good.

[OzarkDem]

20. Most of his record and policies are conservative

The large number of abstentions tends to blur his conservatism, which was undoubtedly his intention.

His health care policy is derived from conservative think tanks, AEI and Brookings Institution.

He has the least aggressive policy for getting out of Iraq.

The list goes on and on. I realize he's putting a lot of effort into trying to appear liberal, but that only works on people who don't pay close attention to the issues.

[Unsane]

25. What Senate votes suggest he's conservative?

What are his ACLU and NARAL ratings?

[Gloria]

15. NUNN????

Wasn't he involved with that UNITY 08 crap????

[Unsane]

17. Blame Alter, he brought it up.

[AlCzervik]

18. Nonn? check please.

[Armstead]

19. A balanced ticket -- Hope and Gloom

Nunn is one of the gloomiest public figures around. He's all about the likelehood of death and destruction.

[MagickMuffin]

21. Nunn......... NOOOOOO

Didn't like him when he was a senator, and I certainly don't like him now. He will NOT excite the base to vote for Obama.

There are far more qualified people for the spot, and Nunn can keep doing what he is doing now.

From your wiki link:

Overall, Nunn was a moderate-to-conservative Democrat who often broke with his party on a host of social and economic issues. He strongly opposed the budget bill of 1993, which included provisions to raise taxes in order to reduce the deficit. He was also vehement in his opposition to President Bill Clinton's proposal to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military. He voted in favor of school prayer, capping punitive damage awards, amending the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget, and limiting death penalty appeals. On certain issues like abortion, the environment, gun control, and affirmative action, Nunn took a more moderate line. He consistently voted in favor of increased immigration. One of his most controversial votes was his vote against the Gulf War.

:puke:

[lastliberalintexas]

22. Are you people really bound and determined to

run off the progressives forever? Especially with Nunn, I can imagine the backlash over those choices.

[Alexander]

23. Sam's chance of being picked? None.

I think Obama will pick one of these people.

Kathleen Sebelius
Janet Napolitano
Joe Biden
Wesley Clark
Bill Richardson

[Nimrod2005]

24. Why not?

[TwilightGardener]

27. Zinni has no elected experience--dumb. Who comes up with this shit?

Nunn is like 70 years old, kind of a has-been, and as exciting as drying paint, so...no.

[Unsane]

29. Neither does Clark, so is he out?

[TwilightGardener]

31. Clark actually ran a campaign for President, so that does put him into

a more credible position to be VP. He's actually made speeches and campaigned, he's not a total political newbie. Gawd, why invite disaster just for a military presence on the ticket?

[Robbins]

32. Jim Webb

Why not him as VP? This can help with Obama wanting to unite the country with a former republican who became a Democrat largely because of the war.He can help when Mccain goes after we want to surrender line In Iraq that Is coming.Virginia Is becoming a swing state.

[TwilightGardener]

33. I like Webb, but two freshmen Senators on one ticket...I'm leery.

Plus, Webb is on wifey number three, and she's a young gal. And I'm not entirely clear on what he did between Navy Sec in the Reagan years and 2006, except for writing novels. Kind of risky on several levels, although I like his no-bullshit personality.

[onenote]

30. I don't know if its likely or not, but I've been hearing Nunn's name kicked around for awhile

Particularly to counter McCain.

Webb is another name that you hear from time to time. Not a lot of elected experience, but good military credentials.

[DURHAM D]

35. Nunn makes perfect sense.

He is the asshole Dem that fought Bill Clinton on his desire to allow gays to openly serve in the military. You can thank him for DADT.

[bigtree]

36. and, you don't know Nunn

interesting

[TheDonkey]

37. If Zinni would like to get political I'd be for him.

would add major FP cred but he'd need to really beef up his domestic policy and political ability. VP could become P someday if the unfortunate every strikes.