If Joe would consider a repug as a running mate, what does that say about the other dem candidates

[karynnj]

49. I think you are misinterpreting the answer

He was asked if he would consider a Republican - he essentially said theoretically yes, but he can't think of any. He, in response to other questions said he could think of 7 (I think that number is correct) women. He obviously is not saying there are no Democrats he is thinking of.

In reality, even if there were a perfect Republican (and if so, why has he not left the party?), there are several problems. In 2004, some one on McCain's staff asked Kerry to speak with McCain about it. After McCain indicated he would not become a Democrat - something that in 2001 when Jeffords did was rumored in the media - it was clear it could not work. The two men, though they had great respect for each other, were simply too far apart on most important issues.

Assume that Kerry/McCain had run, there are issues Kerry could have delegated to McCain - like the VA, for which the 2 had teamed to pass several bills. At that point, McCain was actually good on climate change. However, on most issues he was more hawkish than Kerry and he was a conservative and Kerry a liberal - almost guaranteeing they would be on opposite sides of nearly all economic related bills.

Not to mention, McCain running with Kerry would have made him dead to the Republican party. Given that he himself had Presidential aspirations and there is no way the Democratic party would have backed him had Kerry won and gotten two terms, accepting running with Kerry would have been sacrificing his own aspirations.


The idea of a bipartisan ticket reemerged in 2008, when McCain's first choice was supposedly Joe Lieberman. There was a closer match there in that both Lieberman and McCain were hawks and may have been pretty close to each other on foreign policy. They also had both sponsored climate change bills. Lieberman was also a centrist on many domestic issues - making it easier to bridge his and McCain's positions. The GOP made it clear that they did not want this.

Not to be ghoulish, in 2008, the concern for who McCain would chose was colored by the possibility that that person could become President. A bipartisan ticket would transfer the Presidency to the other party if the President becomes incapacitated. Given that it is incomprehensible that the Democrats would have nominated VP McCain or the Republicans would nominate VP Lieberman, there is reason to think the party could ever be happy with a bipartisan ticket.

As to Republicans now - I think Biden got along well with Senator Hagel on the SFRC and in the Obama administration -- but two white men over 70 is not a reasonable ticket - no matter who they are.