Academic

Obama Vice Presidential Brackets

By Dan Filler

CQ did vice-presidential brackets for John McCain a few weeks back - and guess what?  Voters ended up picking The Huck as McCain's wing mate.  While I think that's as likely as monkeys flying out of my...you know what...I also think the competition is fun fun fun.  And now it's time to repeat this process for Barack Obama.  So it's time for everyone to go here and vote in the Democratic Vice Presidential sweepstakes.  You can choose between Hillary and Bob Casey, Claire McKaskill and Wesley Clark, and Blanche Lincoln and Max Cleland, among others.  I've said all along that Chuck Hagel would be an interesting pick, and in round one he faces brutal competition in Tim Kaine.  But at the end of the day, it's hard to think that anyone has better odds that former Republican Jim Webb.  I know that right now, it's appealing to take on a famous candidate like Hillary - who at first appearance, brings a lot of votes.  But she brings more baggage than a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  And Obama has been nothing if not attentive to his metanarrative of change.  So in the end, a former Republican, former Secretary of the Navy, and current Senator from a southern swing state looks awfully compelling.  One other interesting possibility - utterly insane, really, given his support for impeaching Cheney - is the political pugilist Robert Wexler, whose powerful arguments at last Saturday's Democratic Rules Committee confab, strong commitment to clean elections, and strong connections to the Florida Jewish community make him an unexpectedly compelling pick. 

H/T Sarah Stevenson

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on June 05, 2008 (boomark / email).