Veepstakes update: Obama has picked his running mate

irishmick79 · Post by **irishmick79** » 2008-08-21 07:04pm

But isn't telling anybody yet.

Obama has his man....er, woman?

I have a sneaking suspicion it will be Clinton. Picking her will really fire up a lot of democrats going into the convention and would nullify the possibility of an ugly convention break down if Clinton backers insist on voting for Hillary.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2008-08-21 07:05pm

Given Hillary already has a group set up specifically to stop shennanigans.. Can this stupid, stupid nonsense stop? The short-list isn't any secret. Though Bayh would be a horrible pick.

irishmick79 · Post by **irishmick79** » 2008-08-21 07:07pm

SirNitram wrote:Given Hillary already has a group set up specifically to stop shennanigans.. Can this stupid, stupid nonsense stop? The short-list isn't any secret. Though Bayh would be a horrible pick.

Sure, it's nonsense, but it's fun water-cooler fodder. I definitely agree that Bayh is the worst name in the bunch.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2008-08-21 07:14pm

irishmick79 wrote:
SirNitram wrote:Given Hillary already has a group set up specifically to stop shennanigans.. Can this stupid, stupid nonsense stop? The short-list isn't any secret. Though Bayh would be a horrible pick.
Sure, it's nonsense, but it's fun water-cooler fodder. I definitely agree that Bayh is the worst name in the bunch.

It was fun water-cooler talk several months back. Now it's just so beaten and tired out it's honestly freakin' annoying. I also honestly doubt there's that many dems upset about it and not over it. There's a few loud idiots on the web, but that's.. Not saying much.

Anarchist Bunny · Post by **Anarchist Bunny** » 2008-08-21 08:10pm

Anyone else sorta get the feeling that they is soooo much talk about Obama's VP because people are thinking he's going to get assassinated?

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2008-08-21 08:41pm

Anarchist Bunny wrote:Anyone else sorta get the feeling that they is soooo much talk about Obama's VP because people are thinking he's going to get assassinated?

I think some people have that suspicion, but a lot of people are just interested because Obama is a bonafide celebrity amongst the younger crowd. I don't mean that in the derogatory way that McCain does, but he does have a lot more popular appeal than McCain has, or Kerry or Bush had. They're interested in Obama's runningmate the same way they're interested about whoever Jessica Alba is dating.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2008-08-21 09:38pm

Anarchist Bunny wrote:Anyone else sorta get the feeling that they is soooo much talk about Obama's VP because people are thinking he's going to get assassinated?

I think its more because people know jack shit about Obama because it does have much of any real record, so who his VP is will be more defining of his campaign and actions in office then normal.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2008-08-21 09:59pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:
Anarchist Bunny wrote:Anyone else sorta get the feeling that they is soooo much talk about Obama's VP because people are thinking he's going to get assassinated?
I think its more because people know jack shit about Obama because it does have much of any real record, so who his VP is will be more defining of his campaign and actions in office then normal.

Some of it is also the Cheney effect. Dick Cheney is probably the most powerful VP in the history of this country, or at least one of them, and people are going to pay a lot more attention after that. The VP is no longer a non-entity that hangs around to run four to eight years down the road; the VP is a potential king maker in the coming administration. With, as Sea Skimmer says, Obama's short record you have some that could potentially matter a great deal to what policies are implemented in any Obama administration.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2008-08-21 10:37pm

Which is one lingering crazy bit of American politics, the VP should be the Presidents XO, his Executive Officer, his right hand, his Voice in matters the President can't spend a week on. Someone who has power, not someone who you pick to "balance the ticket" then tell them to drink themselves blind the corner once the election is over.

CmdrWilkens · Post by **CmdrWilkens** » 2008-08-21 11:15pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:
Anarchist Bunny wrote:Anyone else sorta get the feeling that they is soooo much talk about Obama's VP because people are thinking he's going to get assassinated?
I think its more because people know jack shit about Obama because it does have much of any real record, so who his VP is will be more defining of his campaign and actions in office then normal.

I seriously doubt it especially because if Obama picks someone to cover his "weakness" then ALL the media will talk about is the fact that Obama has those "weaknesses" and he is the top of the ticket. CLinton got it right in '92, he picked someone with very similair qualification to his own (younger centrist southern politician) which made the two of them a brand. The geographic bump of VPs is nowadays almost nihl and in a right dominated media environment shoring up "weakness" is just another chance to let Republicans frame the debate as something other than the massive economic inequality they are advocating.

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2008-08-22 12:29am

I've always thought that the VP ought to be the President's voice in Congress, seeing as how the VP technically casts the deciding vote in a tiebreaker. If you really wanted him to be more important, though, you could have the VPs engage in an equivalent to Question Time with Congress; people might be upset if the Head of State himself actually did it, but what about the VP?