John Kerry for Vice President

[Dr Ron]

Cross posted from Liberal Values--see original post for links

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=3913

John Kerry For Vice President

August 15th, 2008 by Ron Chusid

There’s been speculation that Obama might pick someone totally unexpected as his running mate as opposed to the names being discussed the most. WBZ TV has one suggestion:

Barack Obama has yet to name a vice presidential nominee and some are wondering if he might turn to Massachusetts to round out the ticket.

John Kerry for vice president?

Don’t dismiss the notion just yet.

Some political insiders are telling WBZ it could happen.

So why would Obama reach out to Kerry as his choice?

Kerry brings more money and name recognition to the table than any other name on the Obama list so far. Americans do tend to love a comeback kid and this would be the most amazing political comeback since Richard Nixon came back from the dead forty years ago.

“I’m not looking for any new job, I’m running for re-election,” Kerry told WBZ last week.

Asked about the V.P. buzz, his press secretary told WBZ in a statement Thursday night:

“If I was bi-lingual, I’d say no in multiple languages. The only job John Kerry is running for, contemplating, or considering is the one he already has.”

If you’re laughing off the idea of Kerry back on the national ticket again, I don’t blame you. While he came close four years ago, his campaign was widely derided as, to put it politely, clumsy.

But consider some reasons why Obama might now turn to Kerry as a running mate.

Polls show many voters question Obama’s foreign policy credentials to be a wartime president. As a decorated veteran and longtime member of the senate foreign relations committee, Kerry could fill that gap.

Obama suffers from being a new face on the political scene, but Kerry - warts and all - is well known to the voters, and in 2004, he did draw more votes than any democrat ever has.

And judging from a new anti-smear web site funded by Kerry’s political action committee, Kerry would eagerly assume the role of attack dog… Allowing a nominee who prefers to float above the fray to minimize the amount of political hardball he has to play.

One other note: the vice presidential nominee will address the convention on Wednesday night, August 27.

The theme set for that evening - a salute to America’s veterans.

The Obama campaign says we shouldn't read anything into that. We'll soon see if they're blowing smoke on that one.

From a political point of view I doubt Obama will choose Kerry as it would mean reopening all the bogus attacks which came in 2004. However this could also work in Obama’s favor as this could highlight the fact that the attacks on Obama are just typical right wing lies which come around every four years, often from the exact same sources. More importantly, Obama could not do better in terms of a running mate who is qualified to be vice president, or president should that become necessary. It also turns out that Kerry has been vetted by the Obama campaign.