National Security Credibility A Must For VP Choice Says Kerry's Team

[Quixote1818]

Who does this eliminate and who does it bring to the top of the list?

ABC mentions Graham, Nun, Cohen and Clark. Who else brings "instant" National Security credibility to the table?

From ABC News tonight:


ABC news has learned that Jim Johnson, the man running Kerry's VP search says the nominee should have instant credibility on national security, something many feel Edwards lacks. Other names are still being tossed around, such as Sen. Graham, former Sen. Sam Nunn, William Cohen, Wesley Clark, etc. Kerry gives no hints about his preferences (Kerry SOT). "Conventional wisdom is often flat wrong on the VP search. Few predicted Al Gore, Dan Quayle, Joe Lieberman, or Dick Cheney would get the nod."
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/TheNote/Evening_Newscasts.html

[unteagles]

1. two words...

Norman Schwarzkopf for VP...or am I panicking?

[cosmokramer]

2. Well, you can definitely eliminate JE, HD, DK...

...and you can eliminate Nunn as well. Nunn is anti-gays in the military and anti-reproductive rights. That won't fly for this girl, and it won't fly for Kerry either.

[Kahuna]

3. I don't speculate about who the VP pick will be. I know who I DON'T want.

McCain, Vilsack, Gephardt, Lieberman (fat chance), and Bayh. I could live with either Clark or Edwards.

[Crachet2004]

4. This is why I have leaned towards Wesley Clark...

John Edwards is too much of a lightweight, in my opinion, and we are'nt going to carry any of the South, anyhow. I think the GOP wants us to run with Edwards...reason enough for me not to want to. I also think they think they can easily characterize him as an ambulence chaser and the sole cause of the health care crisis, all rolled in to one. Let him be attorney general.

That said, I am worrried that Clark is too much into this war on terrorism thing...something many of us believe, to the extent it really exists at all, is an excuse-no more, no less-to attack anyone we don't like...or who happens to have something we want, like oil. I like Clark and Edwards both, but I guess I am conflicted.

Actually, I was beginning to favor Gep myself, which is really hard for me to do. Gep really WOULD help in some of the battleground states, and would probably bring Missouri into the fold. Labor and Seniors love him.

I guess I will leave this one to the pros...but right now, and I never thought I would be saying this, I am leaning towards Dick Gephardt.

[MoonRiver]

5. Isn't Cohen a Repuke?

I also heard he undermined Clark during Bosnia/Kosovo. I wouldn't be happy with that choice.

[Jai4WKC08]

8. It just shows how clueless the media is

There are probably damn few things Kerry could do to make Clark stop campaigning for him. But putting Cohen on the ticket, or in any capacity of his team, would probably be at the top of the list.

And yes, Cohen is the quintessential Repug: lying backstabber.

[merci_me]

6. As far as I'm concerned, you can eliminate ANY Repug.

First, for Kerry's own personal safety. An assasination turns it all back to the Repugs and if you look around, crazy rightwingers do shoot to kill, (ask Planned Parenthood) while the lefties throw pies, eggs and tomatoes.

Plus, there's always the possibility of a president dying in office of natural causes. We're talking eight years. Those few sane Supremes aren't going to last that long.

If Kerry goes 8 years, what happens then? Do we as usual, run the veep (Humphrey, Mondale, Gore). Remember, if we chose to make our standard bearer a Repug, do we challenge our own Vice President? Or does the Democratic Party run our very own Repug Veep against their Repug?

[cosmokramer]

7. I agree...no GOP on the VP slot.