Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Nader, VPs and Polls

Media reports that Nader believes Obama will pick Clinton as his running mate. Why is the media still listening to this guy? I can't believe he has any insight into this. Although we can thank him for getting Bush elected in 2000, it's about time he should go off into the sunset. And yes, the antecedent of he is Nader, not Obama although there are times I wonder why the media is still listening to Obama.

It will be interesting to see who Obama does pick as his running mate. Supposedly it is down to Tim Kaine, Evan Bayh, and Joe Biden. If Obama picks Biden, that would really emphasize Obama's inexperience considering how long Biden has been around. Biden's knack for talking just short of forever probably won't help Obama. Being from Indiana, I think Bayh might be the best choice for Obama.

Finally, a Rasmussen poll says that McCain leads Obama, 46-43% in Florida, which is excellent news. Ohio is really close as well, and nationally, the lead for Obama is just a couple of points. These are all excellent signs for McCain, but a lot can change over the next few weeks during the conventions. Remember in 2004, it was just after the RNC and DNC that Bush really got out in front of Kerry and never really relinquished the lead.

2 comments:

Olivejenny said...

Cameron -

Thanks for the helpful article.

Just FWIW, I'm a Kaine constituent; Kaine is VA's Gov. since 2006. He's considered fairly moderate, although he has been viciously critical (ala Obama) of McCain recently, particularly over Russia/Georgia. VA is woefully behind the Governator's environmental/energy independence progress in CA; Kaine has done zilch.

Kaine is a lawyer with an inner city background (did a lot to clean up Richmond's deplorable crime rate; he served on City Council and 2 terms as Mayor) He is fiscally responsible, as is VA's tradition.

His major issues in VA are education & transportation ... VA has always had some of the best schools in the nation, Kaine has continued to do well there. My first-hand experience w/ the latter - still abominable - we have some of the worst roads and traffic in the nation ... interstates and beltways and local roads are in horrible shape (I drove 150-200 mi/day in my old job ... the roads in VA are horrible)... did I mention the horrible condition of the roads and the unbearbale traffic? ;-)

He is pitifully soft on illegal immigration and some of our counties have had to step in and crack down because of his lack of leadership.

VA is a fairly conservative state, and we elected more moderate Dems in 2006 than in previous years. More than 147,000 new voters have registered in VA this year which is most likely healthy for Obama; however, I personally see little evidence of support for Obama, including my neighbor who usually literally cover their entire front yard with every Dem candidate signs in every election (it's really obnoxious, actually)... they have no Obama signs or bumper stickers. (We'll see after the convention)

Like I said, Kaine has been viciously critical of McCaine lately, which didn't play well in VA (a heavily military state). Like you, I consider Biden a no-go ... don't know much about Bayh (lol, other than Obama/Bayh might be called the GQ ticket.)

Anyway, just FWIW from a Kaine constituent.

Cameron said...

Thanks for the insight into Kaine. I think one problem with Kaine as a running mate (besides what you just mentioned) is that he doesn't help Obama's national security credentials which is a major hole in the Obama image. Bayh is also a moderate Dem, and he is very popular in Indiana, a conservative state like Virginia. Bayh also has been on the intelligence and I believe the armed services committees so he has a good amount of foreign policy expertise. A couple of drawbacks for Bayh is that Indiana does not have a lot of electoral votes and Obama would still be hardpressed to win it with Bayh as a running mate. (Actually, if Obama were to win Indiana, I think Obama would win the election easy.)
The other drawback is that Bayh is not that well known nationally.

It's interesting how the news in just the past 24 hours seems to suggest Biden is now the frontrunner for the VP nomination.