Kerry won't announce running mate until July

[WI_DEM]

I heard this on CNN this morning. Reason is that fund-raising is going better than expected and the process of selecting a running mate is taking longer than expected and Bush is doing alot of foreign travel in June so the Kerry campaign has decided to hold off on a running mate until early July--before the convention.

Sorry no link--just what I heard on CNN.

[JI7]

1. this is actually normal for recent times

since reagan i think. most vp choies were announced just shortly before the convention. the only reason kerry was going to announce early was to get his vp to help with fundraising events.

[salin]

2. Explain this... Kerry gets excoriated in the press for this

but little discussion goes on about the Pres decision to move the repub convention even later - in order to be in NYC close to the anniversary of 9-11? These are both politically calculated moves... but only Kerry gets the huge criticism? liberal bias, my nose.

[Gloria]

3. A fellow DUer has suggested this to me during

our many phonecalls on this topic...

Announce on July 4, in Boston at "Old Ironsides" .....(Disclaimer: we are both praying for Clark!)

[beyurslf]

4. That sounds like an excellent plan to me except that "news" on the holiday

would probably not get the bounce that he would otherwise. Announce just before the 4th so people won't be distracted by vacations.

[AP]

7. Do it before the holiday and people can talk about during the holiday.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. Damn that'd be hard to top

an old navy man in front of our oldest, most famous ship!
Brilliant.

[TheStateChief]

9. I like Wes too, but...

I have a bad feeling that we're going to see a Kerry-Gephardt ticket. Both candidates are close, Kerry obviously respects him, and their coordinated efforts early in the primary process lead me to believe that Gephardt's the safe choice to make in Kerry's mind. I've also heard more than one commentator say that Gephardt is the guy Kerry wants while Jim Johnson favors a guv.

Of course, I wouldn't mind seeing Howard Dean or Ed Rendell either.

[JI7]

10. Gep often went after Kerry on his nafta and other trade votes

and kerry attacked gephardt on wanting to taking the middle class tax cuts.

[TheStateChief]

11. Which is why

I could see Kerry's people looking at this and saying it makes sense. It boosts Kerry's standing among labor and, again, I think Kerry genuinely likes Gephardt despite their differences.

Don't get me wrong, I think Gephardt is a solid, albeit somewhat boring, candidate. I would much rather prefer Wesley Clark.

[JI7]

12. yes, labor is exactly why they look at gep

and he does like gep and gep's wife jane very much. gep isn't popular on du but he is popular among a group of voters that can help make the difference in whether kerry wins those important swing states.

we all know what clark's strenght's are and i think kerry is going to make his final decision based on which will help the most with getting elected in the end.

[Nicholas_J]

14. The majority of the party

Is recommending Gephardt as the safest choice, with no unknown past to come out unexpectedly. A smaller minority is opting for Edwards adn another even smaller minority for Clark.

I have said a number of times that the final choice is more than likely to be Gephardt, not out of any particular desire to see Gephardt chosen, but because of the strategic reasons cited by that party majority who are pulling for Gephardt.

[Darkamber]

6. This would be good move

It will give him more time to see how the transfer of power goes in Iraq. If it goes good. The more time he has to see which way the win is blowing then the better chance he has to pick the best VP for him.

Also...the full effects of the gas prices and the prison investigation should have hit the longer he waits.

[wellstone dem]

8. Good move

As long as * is getting negative press, there is no reason to use up the publicity the vp announcement will get.

[Nicholas_J]

13. They have been saying that fo some time

Kerry has indicated this himself a number of tmes when asked, and his campaign staff has done so as well. They have repeatedly said that they will not announce a running mate early.