Just caught this Yahoo! story that Obama may or may not announce his choice for a running mate this coming Saturday in Indiana. Forgetting for a moment the fact that it’s one of those infuriating stories that poses as news but isn’t really (he may choose! He may not! It might be him! Or her!), I think it makes sense; McCain has said he will announce his own decision on the 29th, which is, I think, just a couple of days after the Democratic National Convention ends.
Obama’s naming his own choice for a running mate would effectively keep him in the news for a full week, and would certainly draw focus on him and his campaign at a very crucial moment. By then we might actually no longer be hearing about swimmers and underage gymnasts (which I, personally, think is a moment that can’t come soon enough, thanks).
The article names a handful of possible candidates, picking Hillary as a longshot behind people like Joe Biden and Evan Bayh, and a couple of people I’ve never heard of, Tim Kaine and Kathleen Sebelius. The latter has an impressive Wikipedia page and a good track record.
I should note I’m disappointed that John Edwards is gone from the process. To be honest, I really don’t care about candidates’ personal lives, and I’d still vote for him regardless of his extramarital activities. I don’t think they have any bearing on the good he’s accomplished, and it’s a shame his personal choices will effectively end his political aspirations.
Then again, I’m also the guy who thinks it’s a crock that some random pastor guy grilled Obama and McCain on issues of faith, because I’m also the guy who thinks religiosity comes in at the very bottom on the list of qualities I’d like to see in a leader.
Interestingly, that Yahoo! article speculates about McCain’s choices for a running mate, and names one by which I was surprised: Joe Liebermann. Who you might remember as Gore’s running mate in 2000. Which strikes me as a turncoat sort of thing to do, especially given McCain’s views on the war in Iraq and etc. The other name was Tom Ridge, a former governor of Pennsylvania and a supporter of abortion rights. Lending credence to that: McCain is apparently surveying constituents concerning his choice–
Underscoring how seriously McCain may be considering Ridge or Lieberman, Republican officials say top McCain advisers have been reaching out to big donors and high-profile delegates in key states to gauge the impact of putting an abortion-rights supporter on the GOP ticket.
Which strikes me as hypocritical. In the same debate in which the candidates were moderated by random pastor guy, McCain stuck by his assertion that life begins at conception. It strikes me as a fundamental dichotomy to consider someone who is pro-choice as a running mate, not to mention morally oppositional.
August 19, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I want to start by saying I’m pro choice; I don’t want to be mis-understood.
I think it’s a good idea in certain casses to get people to work with a politian with differen’t views. Let’s say McCain was anti-babby seal kicking but a good deal of the country was pro-babby seal kicking. It’s morally wrong to want to kick a babby seal in my opinion but in others it’s a way of expressing freedom of speech. So why should McCain seriously consider a running mate whose pro babby seal kicking? Because he speaks for the people who are pro-babby seal kicking and they deserve a voice as much as anyone. Besides that, when laws are put into place about kicking babby seals, the people who are pro and anti need to be considered. As many people that hated proabition and were finacially affected by it their were plenty of people for it, but the people who were against it (such as farmers who grow corn for corn whiskey) weren’t considered. A law was put into place that people broke willingly.
Now, I don’t want abortion to be out lawed but I don’t want lwas put into place that will make it easier for anti-abortion people to want to mess with abortion clinics. I think it’s wrong that some women use it more like birth controll, as in getting 10 abortions in a year. Will that be considered when they make laws if McCain pick some one whose pro-abortion?