Congressman John Yarmuth is Obama's Best Choice for Vice-President and Why Webb Would be a Mistake

[Avalon6]

Picking Jim Webb would be a mistake for Obama. As Webb endorsed Obama late, it remains to be seen whether he would be a good campaigner or even a good surrogate for Obama. Obama does not need national security credentials in an election year where the economy is the main concern. Picking Webb to bolster his national security experience may backfire as it would shift the political debate from the economy (an argument Obama easily wins) to national security (where even with Webb, McCain will still be the perceived as the stronger candidate for national security)

Congressman John Yarmuth of Kentucky is a freshman congressman that won election in a key swing district and would make a great choice for Obama's message of change because he hasn't been involved in Washington politics for very long. He endorsed Obama early on even when it was apparent Hillary would win big in Kentucky! Even being from Kentucky, Yarmuth is a progressive (unlike Webb). He would serve as an effective voice for wooing blue-collar voters that have been hit hard by the economy and hails from a region that would be crucial in the GE (Kentucky borders Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Virginia. Yarmuth is also Jewish and he will help Obama court Jewish voters.

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

[TexasObserver]

1. US Senators or Governors or former of same. House reps need not apply.

[Avalon6]

5. I disagree. Picking an unknown candidate as a running mate would be great for Obama.

The media would focus more on the VP selection and his biographical information and not the fact that he didn't pick Hillary as VP.

[MadBadger]

8. They woudl focus on the fact that it would be the most inexperienced team ever.

[Avalon6]

11. Change beats experience in this election easily.

[MadBadger]

12. And Obama has the message of change easily

Why not try to close the experience gap while he's at it?

[TexasObserver]

16. not foolish, unjustified change

[TexasObserver]

15. No, they'd ridicule the choice and say "Obama really blew this one!"

It ain't gonna happen. Do you even know the last time a House member was named as the VP for the Democratic party? Or how that turned out?

[Spider Jerusalem]

19. That would be Geraldine Ferraro...

a Democrat probably wouldn't have won that year anyway, but Mondale wasn't the best candidate (I don't think Gary Hart would've suffered a 49-state blowout).

[TexasObserver]

34. Mondale and Ferraro barely got more electoral votes than you and me.

It would have been hard for any Democrat to win in 84, but Mondale was a terrible choice, and Ferraro as VP a disaster.

[Occam Bandage]

21. No. They'd ridicule him for picking a bland nobody Congressman without any

legislative accomplishments to his name.

[Chipper Chat]

2. Then I like that "mistake."

Webb is my top choice. National Security as an issue won't go away. Also I think McCain has the Jewish vote all locked up.

[MadBadger]

7. "McCain has the Jewish vote all locked up" Is this satire?

I believe Gallup's last poll had Obama beating McCain 2-1 among Jewish Voters, and this was a couple weeks back.

[waldnorm]

13. Disagree on McCain and Jews

Most Jews will vote Democrat. The Wolfowitz/Liebermans only are appealing to the "neocon" section, hoping to make it grow, and it may be a disturbing growing minority, but he'd get a third, at best.

[Chipper Chat]

20. Maybe Lieberman has poisoned my mind.

Glad to hear I'm wrong on the Jewish issue.

[Cha]

31. Yeah, get that

lieberman outta your mind.

[MadBadger]

3. A Freshman Congressmen? Is this satire?

[Cirque du So-What]

4. I like John Yarmuth

but I'd hate like hell to see that district revert back into the hands of Anne Northup in his absence.

[MonkeyFunk]

6. Well, at least when people say Obama has little experience

he can point to his vp choice and say "Yeah, but I've got more than him!".

Come on, get real. A freshman house member?

[Avalon6]

9. Didn't we already have this experience debate? Change won over experience easily

[TexasObserver]

17. No, because you're discounting his experience.

And you're inflating her experience.

[Avalon6]

23. I'm sorry but you are not going to win the experience against McCain

He served 25 years in the Senate and is a military veteran. Obama is not going to win voters by trying to be something that he is not.

[TexasObserver]

35. the quality of the experience matters. McCain's is a lifetime of bad experience.

He's indistinguishable from Bush, and that hobbles him.

[Skittles]

44. what does experience matter when McCAIN F***ING SUCKS

if anything it just means he has SUCKED FOR A LONG TIME

[MonkeyFunk]

45. Easily?

It went to the last day of the primaries, and he needed superdelegates to go over the top, and he won without the majority of democrats voting for him. I'd hardly call that "easy".

And even if he did win easily, it doesn't mean that he should pick someone even less experienced than him - that's just silly.

[Spider Jerusalem]

10. National security isn't Jim Webb's only strong issue, though.

He's an economic populist who's not really all that far from John Edwards on economic issues (and one of only six members of the Senate Progressive Caucus).

[kerry-is-my-prez]

14. Who gives a crap when he endorsed Obama. Then that takes Richardson out too btw.

n/t

[Occam Bandage]

18. That's what we need. A guy with only one year in the lower house of Congress,

no other experience, who hails from a state we can't win, and who has absolutely nothing goin' for him but:

1. He's a Jew.
2. He's a white guy, like virtually everyone else on Obama's VP short list.

[Avalon6]

22. Jim Webb also only has 1 year in Congress

[MadBadger]

24. Jim Webb is a Senator, was the Secretary of the Navy, and is a Decorated Veteran.

[Avalon6]

26. By your logic, Senator Bryd would make a great VP candidate

He is after all the longest serving senator in history and former senate majority leader.

[MadBadger]

27. Are you for real?

You dont even make sense. Because I'm against a freshman Rep. you think I want the man with more experience in Washington than anybody else. In case you havent noticed, I'm arguing for Senator Webb. Get a frickin clue.

[Avalon6]

33. You really shouldn't have voted for Obama then if you care that much about experience

[Occam Bandage]

37. Like most voters, I have an experience threshold. If a candidate

passes it, great. I move on to other considerations.

Belief that 35 years is not necessarily better than 15 years is not the same as belief that 0 years is as good as 15 years.

[Avalon6]

39. I see you're buying Hillary's commander in chief threshold arguement

[MadBadger]

40. He didnt say say anything about commander in chief

It was about experience.

[Avalon6]

41. I'll refresh you're mind

She made a convoluted argument about how Obama wasn't qualified for President but could qualify for vice-president in the middle of the campaign. She said there was some threshold that Obama would arbitrary cross before the convention, allowing him to have enough experience to become VP. Remember, it's not my argument but hers.

[MadBadger]

42. I'm talking about Occam Bandage. He wasnt referring to the CIC threshold that Hillary talked of

[Occam Bandage]

43. No. Her argument is that she (and McCain) have reached a threshold of experience, and that

Obama has not. I disagree with that assertion. I believe that all three have the minimum qualifications necessary to be President.

[MadBadger]

38. I want a VP that helps the nominee with perceived weaknesses

So yea, experience matters. And I dont really see how a freshman Representative in a state we arent winning in the fall really does anything at al..

[Occam Bandage]

28. No, Byrd is a terrible pick for other reasons.

[Occam Bandage]

25. Let's look at the differences.

1. Jim Webb was Secretary of the Navy.
2. Jim Webb is a national name.
3. Jim Webb is from a state Obama can flip.
4. Jim Webb is a war hero.
5. Jim Webb is a Senator, not a Representative.

Yarmuth brings about as much to the ticket as your average School Board member does. The only things he has going for him are his Jewishness (which is a dubious plus) and his lack of any accomplishments whatsoever (which you brand as "change.") Neither of those are particularly rare traits.

[Avalon6]

30. Doesn't that legitimatize McCain's arguments for experience also though?

It's a double edged sword. More people care about President than VP.

[Occam Bandage]

32. ...what?

Are you posting drunk, or is your mind really this disorganized? You're all over the place.

[Avalon6]

36. I'm sorry if you have trouble reading between the lines

And I thought personal attacks were against the rules in this forum.

[Yotun]

53. Dude, even if you're right it doesn't matter.

It may be that he's the best man for the job, and that experience doesn't mean anything. It may be that he'll do the most good for the country, and that a rational analysis will show him to be a good choice. BUT, what matters when picking the VP isn't wht a rational analysis will show, but how it appears to the electorate, and if they'll buy it. So you may be right on all counts- BUT if you have such difficulty making the case, and convincing people in DU, one of the most democratically partisan websites on the internet, where the members will vote for the democrat no matter what, then that is all the proof you need, that you won't be able to convince the rest of the country. Even if you are indeed right, the fact that you have such difficulty proving you are right here, shows he is not a good choice.

[muryan]

29. Obama needs someone strong on the economy

but also with some FP experience.

I think it was quoted best on tweety's show earlier tonight. Women vote democratic when the message is about the economy, health care and education. But when its foreign policy, they tend to favor republicans.

[Barack_America]

46. You make a strong argument...for Tim Kaine.

He has everything you mentioned, but real executive experience. FYI, he's the governor of VA and is from MO. And, he was the first national politician to endorse Barack.

I read over Yarmuth's bio and I didn't see where he has executive experience at all. Did I miss it? It seems that will be a very important consideration in an economy-driven election.

[book_worm]

47. I don't believe a one-term congressman is a good choice for Obama

We also need him to hold that district.

[scheming daemons]

48. Please no...

It has to be someone who would be ready to step in and be President.

It's not just about winning the election.... it has to be someone who could govern if something happened to Obama.



we don't need a "Congressman Who-The-Fuck-is-That?" on the ticket.

[dsomuah]

49. So what? We're all nominating our congressmen now? j/k.

[KittyWampus]

50. Why not? This was done well. Others find fault with the idea, but it wasn't inflammatory.

[dsomuah]

51. Dude I was cracking a joke. Relax

[PoliticalAmazon]

52. IMO, not a good idea to have a VP who most voters will go "who?" when they....

hear her/his name.