Today's MSM Three for Obama Veep are Biden (Keith's Olbermann's apparent choice), Bayh and Kaine, in that order, sort of. All are wrong choices.
The two most likely choices are Kathleen Sebelius and Brian Schweitzer, the Governors of Kansas and Montana respectively. Both have seismic potential.
The scenario under which Sebelius might get the nod is that it would be part of a rapprochement with Clinton that she'd go with. Hillary and Kathleen suddenly become the SAME THING and Hilary's supporters back off.
Schweitzer would be Obama's laugh at everyone, a manifestation of great confidence on Obama's part and the choice of someone who really does rank as a political original and potential leader beyond the others in the Barack VEEP stable.
These two candidates speak chance and excitement and none of the MSM three promise more but endless picking over of the boring question WHY.
I think the choice of one of these would force McCain to choose Lieberman and run on a Strangelove platform. All the neocon apocalypse you can imbibe. Talk about Kool-Aid.
Schweitzer would also nail down the clear Western Strategy the Obama camp is running. Count the Western states among those that Obama regards as battlegrounds by simply listing those in which he's placing his most recent ad.
The states are AK, CO, FL, IA, MI, MO, MT, NM, NV, NH, NC, ND, OH, PA, VA, and WI.
Now if it came down to Schweitzer or Sebelius, what would the list above tell you. NO KANSAS. Kansas is McCain's as of now.
Schweitzer is a THINKER who has put together the restoration economy for this whole country.
I would guess from observation of comments on the Obama Blog that Schweitzer has increased his popularity among Obama loyalists as they have discovered him by listening to his videos, including some at the link below.
Here are some additional helps in doping out the Democratic veepstakes:
Al Giordano has all the twists and turns you could wish for in his current take on the Democratic veepstakes, including a list of hopefuls with some of them crossed out followed by cogitation and a civil comment section here.
Brent Budowsky on Alternet asks where Gore is when we need him to point to the toast that is the McCain environmental plan. That has some tangential relationship to the VEEPARAMA, one thinks. Schweitzer is the most environmentally committed of the current list, see here.
Here is a New York Times list of those THEY regard as viable. My biggest argument for Brian Schweitzer is that he is NOT on the Times list. Kathleen is however. Check it out.
What's Not The Matter With Kansas: Kate Sheppard Talks To Governor Kathleen Sebelius Kate Sheppard July 11, 2008 Huffington Post
Kathleen Sebelius, Completing The Obama Puzzle Sam Stein June 10, 2008 Huffington Post Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Endorsing Obama January 29, 2008 video
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Vote for Change video
Gov. Sebelius on Insuring Children video 2007
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius - Democratic Response to Bush's State of the Union address 2008 video
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Endorsing Obama January 29, 2008
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Vote for Change
Gov. Sebelius on Insuring Children
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius - Democratic Response to Bush's State of the Union address 2008
What's Not The Matter With Kansas: Kate Sheppard Talks To Governor Kathleen Sebelius Kate Sheppard July 11, 2008 Huffington Post
Among the many names swirling in the Obama VP buzz is that of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. A second-term Democratic governor in what's traditionally seen as a bastion of conservatism, Sebelius earned national attention as the chair of the Democratic Governors Association in 2007 and for delivering the Democratic response to this year's State of the Union. But for many environmentalists, she made her mark with something else entirely.
Earlier this year, Sebelius went head to head with a major utility company and the state's Republican-controlled legislature, three times vetoing bills that would have allowed two 700-megawatt, coal-fired power generators to be built in the state.
The battle began in October 2007 when a state environment official rejected Sunflower's permit to build the new plants on the basis of carbon dioxide emissions -- the first such rejection in the U.S. The state legislature fought back with bills that would have allowed the plants to proceed and stripped the state's environmental officials of the authority to grant permits, and the coal industry waged a nasty campaign against the governor. But Sebelius held firm, and in May vetoed the legislation for a third time, to the cheers of climate champions across the nation.
Derided by the coal industry and beloved by its critics, Sebelius has advocated for a major increase in the amount of wind power generated in the state, and pushed for massive reforms to the state's energy plan.
Grist caught up with Sebelius by phone this week to talk more about the coal fight in Kansas, the lessons it can deliver for other states, and what she would bring to Obama's ticket should she get the nod.
Grist: Every major coal group came to Kansas to fight you on this coal plant issue, because they thought it was the heartland and they could win there. So what happened?
Sebelius: I think that Kansans began to understand that there were some real choices to be made. A lot of the debate became about whether or not we were incurring too much harm for the good that would come out of additional power. Very little of the power that was scheduled to be produced was for Kansas. It actually was electricity that would be exported to Colorado and Texas, yet we would own the carbon. And Kansas already has a tremendously heavy footprint -- I think we're 10th per capita in the country in terms of our current carbon footprint. So we would get all the carbon, and we didn't really need the power.
[An] additional factor was that we have an enormous asset in wind energy, and folks in our state are very supportive of maximizing that renewable energy source before we do anything else, recognizing that it's underutilized right now, it has enormous potential, and it has no negative environmental impact. And so before we build any more coal, we should really ramp up wind. So the debate and the discussion was unlike what I think a lot of the coal companies expected, which was just basically a yes or a no, and this was all about economic development and jobs. It became [about] the consequences to that -- what are the choices and the health costs, the environmental costs. And I think for a lot of legislators that became a real tipping point.
Grist: Your message in the coal fight was that building additional plants now is likely to create a significant economic liability for Kansas in the future. So how do we promote this sort of message on a national level?
Sebelius: In the very least it's compelling to make an argument based on the uncertainty of [the future costs of coal]. Virtually everyone acknowledges that there will be some additional financial costs, and until Congress sets a clear set of rules, nobody knows what that is. That leads to an argument about [whether] it is just economically foolish to make a significant investment when you don't know what the final costs will be if there are other alternatives.
For every state in the country there are alternatives in terms of renewable energy sources. There are alternatives in terms of much-enhanced energy efficiency programs, new building standards, things that could be put in place right away which won't have an economic liability, which won't have an environmental liability and at least get us to the point where there is a clear set of rules so that in the future making strategic decisions then becomes easier ... [With coal] you are incurring a liability of uncertain amounts. You can't tell your shareholders with a straight face that this is going to make us money into the future, because you don't know that.
Grist: What sort of precedent do you hope this coal fight sets nationally?
Sebelius: [Kansas is] a state where we've had relatively inexpensive and very reliable energy sources, and our citizens were ready to engage in a fairly complex discussion of where we go from here. We were not a state where energy prices were high and that drove consumer behavior, or where were running out of power, which has happened on the East and West coasts. I think it's an indication that the citizenry is ready to engage in some serious discussions about what our comprehensive energy policy should be into the future.
There's no question that this administration and Congress has done a huge disservice by not developing a clear energy strategy and refusing to join the world community in a plan where America agrees to reduce our carbon footprint, reduce our greenhouse gases. I think that's really got to change, and I think that notion is very much alive and well across the country as we demonstrated here in the heartland ... I think people are ready for that discussion, and I think it should give some momentum to a new administration and a new Congress. If this kind of battle can occur in Kansas and be successful, I think it's an indication that it can occur in Congress in the future.
Grist: What role should coal play in the national energy portfolio? Is there a future for coal?
Sebelius: I think there certainly has to be a lot of accelerated research and technology emphasis on whether or not we really can reach a design for clean coal technology ... Most recently the feds pulled the plug on FutureGen, which was supposed to be entirely focused on that. Given our enormous supply of coal in this country, I think it's wise for us to spend some real resources on that technology. Is it feasible? How far away from it are we? ... Most people I talk to say 10 to 15 years, if it ever exists at all. So as you look out at the next 25 years of energy policy of this country, that's a big "if." I think we need to make that determination. But yeah, I think if there is a process that can capture carbon and sequester it for long periods of time that becomes economically feasible, you bet coal's going to be part of our future.
Grist: Kansas recently received a $50,000 grant from the National Governors Association Center to pursue clean energy research. What are the big plans for the grant?
Sebelius: We honestly just received that. One of the things [we already have underway] is a comprehensive climate change study led by one of our key business leaders, Jack Pelton, who is the president of Cessna Aircraft. It includes folks from the agricultural, transportation, business, and manufacturing sectors, as well as key cabinet officials and legislators to really develop a long-term strategy for Kansas for lowering our greenhouse gas emissions and determining how we keep our economy thriving at the same time we make some real changes in long-term energy policy. A number of states have done that already. I think it's an opportunity for us to have a dialogue across the state to bring various sectors and representatives to the table to really take a look at how we make smart, strategic decisions which don't negatively impact the environment and yet allow the economy to grow. That's exactly the sort of framework I'm hoping Congress will undertake as they take a look at a new administration to develop new energy policy.
Grist: You're working on getting a renewable portfolio standard in place in the state. How's the progress on that?
Sebelius: Actually, we have kind of an interesting situation, where I was aware that we would not be able to pass a renewable portfolio standard through the legislature. They've made it pretty clear in previous discussions that kind of mandate was not appealing. So instead I brought together all of our utility companies almost a year ago and asked for a voluntary RPS to be put in place: 10 percent wind by 2010 and 20 percent wind by 2020, and at least a 10 percent reduction in overall energy uses, and to my somewhat surprise, they all agreed, and we signed a kind of memorandum of understanding. In fact in Kansas we will be ahead of the goal of 10 percent wind by the end of this year. We have already exceeded that goal and we're two years ahead of the timetable we agreed to. And the companies are taking it very seriously. Even the company that I did battle with on the coal plants has kept their commitment on wind because, quite frankly, they see it as an economic incentive that folks are eager for.
Grist: You've been mentioned as a possible running mate for Barack Obama, and you've praised his energy plan. What do you think you would bring to the Democratic ticket on climate and energy policy, should Obama ask you to be his running mate?
Sebelius: I think he's going to have an array of dazzling choices of people who are eager to help him in any way they can. And I do think whatever happens I am going to work as hard as I possibly can to make sure he's the next president because I think he has the leadership, talent, and capabilities and vision to make the changes that we need in this country. This experience I've had in Kansas I think is helpful in helping to provide some lessons to the members of Congress on what some of the issues are and what some of the polarizing battles are likely to be, and who some of the special interest groups are who show up to to do battle. Whatever we've had in Kansas will be on steroids as the Congressional debate unfolds.
Grist: You and Obama are both strong voices for putting aside partisan battles. But on climate change, it seems like the maximum of what's politically possible is well short of the minimum we need to do to solve the problem. It's an issue where consensus won't get us where we need to go. What would you do to fight the political battles needed to move the consensus on this issue, even if that means aggravating partisan rifts?
Sebelius: I think that the experience here gives me a lens into a little bit about what folks are thinking about. I do think that in this country we may be at something of a tipping point, where the momentum is beginning to shift ... I think there's a real willingness to engage in strategic, longer-term thinking, understanding that what we're doing right now is not sustainable. It's not sustainable for our planet, it's not sustainable for our health, it's not sustainable financially, and it doesn't make any sense.
It's not going to be easy. I think that we have these two major challenges facing a new Congress on a domestic level -- the delivery of health care in a much more universal fashion, and developing a comprehensive and sustainable energy policy are enormously important, and both require very heavy lifting, challenging special interest groups who have made a lot of money off the current system, figuring out ways to tell people things they may not want to hear. There's no silver bullet, there's no easy fix on either of those. But I think in both areas I am optimistic that folks are ready to move ahead. Kathleen Sebelius, Completing The Obama Puzzle Sam Stein June 10, 2008 Huffington Post
When weighing Kathleen Sebelius' potential as a possible vice presidential pick for Barack Obama, it's useful to consider two separate instances when the Kansas Governor confronted President George W. Bush.
In May 2007, after a devastating tornado had wiped out the town of Greensburg, Sebelius was quick to highlight one of the unspoken truths of the recovery episode: Kansas lacked the resources and manpower it needed because much of the state's National Guard resources had been sent to Iraq. Going public, she repeatedly took jabs at Bush, scolding his Iraq policies for creating a readiness gap at home. Her rebukes earned her accolades in Kansas and with the press. It also prompted the scorn of several Bush lackeys -- a not-too-unfortunate wrist slapping for an emerging Democratic official.
Less than a year later, Sebelius' national stature landed her in another prime-time position, again opposite the president. This time, however, her task was far more thankless. Asked to give the response to Bush's final State of the Union address, Sebelius stumbled, offering up what observers deemed a fairly safe, some said milquetoast, address.
Taken together, these two Bush-related episodes could be considered the polar ends of the Kathleen Sebelius experience. To be fair, the median of the Kansas governor's attributes lie definitively closer to the person who eagerly challenged George Bush's war policies. Indeed, with Obama beginning the arduous process of choosing his number two, Sebelius -- who, sources say, enjoys a warm relationship with Obama and would take the job -- presents a heap of electoral promise but with small but significant question marks. * * *
The daughter of the former governor of Ohio, Sebelius rose steadily in the political ranks, winning six straight elections before taking over the governor's chair in 2002 and being reelected four years later. A progressive Democrat in a predominantly Republican state, she achieved remarkable favorability ratings while holding positions traditionally anathema in Kansas -- mainly by keeping focus on bread-and-butter issues.
"By and large, she's a moderate Democrat, truly pro-business, and able to convey a legitimate sense of being a competent administrator (which she is)," Burdett Loomis, a former Sebelius aide and professor of politics at the University of Kansas, said in an email. "She does exceedingly well in forums like Chambers of Commerce talks, where she exudes common sense and competence, while still maintaining core Democratic values -- education, health care, and sympathy for unions."
More often than not, Sebelius has harnessed legislative consensus for her agenda. In a special session in 2005, she was handed a budgetary bombshell when the state's Supreme Court ordered the government to provide $500 million for school funding (Kansas' budget is roughly $12 billion). Discussions went on for days in the legislature, with talk of impeachment of the justices surfacing. Sebelius stood behind the court, and recruited a slim majority of lawmakers to her side. Funds were passed for the schools and three years later the program is regarded as a success.
"She brings people together and gets things done," said Raj Goyle, a first term state representative. "Governor Sebelius has a unique record of reaching across traditional party lines in Kansas to build consensus."
But when she felt it necessary, Sebelius fought -- and often won. She vetoed a bill that would have required voters to show photo identification before voting, citing disenfranchisement concerns. She issued an executive order making it illegal to discriminate against state employees on the basis of sexual orientation. Three times in four years, she opposed legislation that would have restricted abortion access even though one of those bills passed the Kansas legislature by a two to one margin. Most recently, Sebelius offered a third veto to a bill that would have paved the way for the construction of two new coal-fired units in western Kansas, and she did it primarily on environmental grounds, a stance that a decade ago would have amounted to political suicide.
"Elected leaders are supposed to look at the big picture, at issues that may not affect citizens immediately but are extremely beneficial to the long-term condition of our society. Moving toward renewable energy provides opportunities for better-paying jobs, while helping to address concerns caused by global warming," she said of her decision.
Her position was held up by one vote in the statehouse.
"The coal industry thought that if there was one state it could buy off, it would be Kansas," said one legislator close to Sebelius. "She obviously made an incredibly risky decision to deny the permits. And never before in history had coal plant been rejected on environmental grounds."
And yet, despite the dug-in heels and the close-fought battles, Sebelius' standing has risen. In 2005, she was named by Time magazine one of the five best governors in America, lauded for eliminating a $1.1 billion debt without raising taxes. Her approval ratings, meanwhile, hover over 60 percent. Officials at the Democratic Governors Association -- which Sebelius chaired in 2007 -- repeatedly raved about her work ethic.
The Bush confrontation was emblematic of how Sebelius has curried broad support. After tornadoes hit six southwest Kansas counties, killing thirteen, Sebelius publicly declared that National Guard shortages "will just make it [recovery] that much slower." The White House responded by first putting the blame at her feet, saying it was "not aware of any prior complaints" about a lack of personnel or equipment, and then suggesting that the governor had been in New Orleans, listening to jazz, when the storm hit. Neither were true. Sebelius had made at least five separate requests for equipment, beginning in Dec. 2005, and, on the day of the storm, she had been visiting family before immediately returning to the state.
According to a source close to Sebelius, the governor didn't take lightly to the smears. During a visit to the tornado site with the president, she reportedly continued to hammer away with her guard complaints. Kansans of all political stripes loved it.
"People were supportive of her and those comments," said Tim Owens, a Republican legislator. "I'm a retired army colonel and I will tell you, I think she is right... I'm not very happy about the way the federal government went about dealing with the National Guard in regards to the war in Iraq." * * *
Being a successful Democrat in a Republican state, showing an ability to reach blue-collar voters, and demonstrating a tenacity to challenge the Bush administration, has vaulted Sebelius into any honest discussion of Obama's veepstakes. Sharing a good relationship with the Illinois Democrat and endorsing him fairly early in the primary cycle didn't hurt either. But Sebelius also has blind spots on her political resume that even her most ardent supporters acknowledge.
The most superficial is her State of the Union response, a speech that detractors say is evidence that she can't handle the national stage, but, her office claims, was merely a product of divergent expectations.
"Governor Sebelius believes there is a time and place for everything, but she saw that time as an opportunity not to focus necessarily on the Democratic message or the Republican message, but the American message," said her press secretary Nicole Corcoran. "Governor Sebelius has tangled with the White House before and will again if needed, but the response to the State of the Union message was not the time for it."
A far more substantive concern with Sebelius could be that she doesn't provide what Obama truly needs. As governor, she has had limited direct national security experience. And a recent Survey USA poll showed that, even with her as vice president, Obama still wouldn't carry Kansas (and its six electoral college votes) in the general election.
"She can't deliver her own state," said Christian Morgan, executive director for the Kansas Republican Party. "Moreover, she has never dealt with the national issues that a vice president has to talk about. She has no idea how military budgets work, or what it is like to be a commander in chief."
Because of these concerns, Loomis, who worked in a communications capacity for Sebelius, put the governor's vice presidential prospects at "no better than one in ten," calling her a conservative choice. But he added, should she be tapped, Sebelius would be a tireless campaigner and could very well translate her appeal in Kansas onto the national stage.
"As someone who has watched lots of politicians closely for almost four decades," he said, "I find there are two types -- the ones that look worse when you see them close up, and the ones that look better. Kathleen Sebelius is definitely the latter."
Signaling it is serious about courting the hip-hop vote, Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney has tapped respected hip-hop activist Rosa Clemente as her Vice Presidential pick.
If the Green Party accepts McKinney's nomination this weekend at its convention, Clemente will make history as the first hip-hop generation candidate on a presidential ticket, and together with McKinney make up the first all-female of color ticket in U.S. history. McKinney is African American. Clemente identifies herself as Puerto Rican of African descent.
Clemente joins Brooklyn Congressional candidate Brooklyn Congressional candidate Kevin Powell as another prominent hip-hop writer/activist competing in the 2008 elections. Maryland hip-hop activist and scholar Jared Ball also competed for the Green Party presidential nomination, ending his run this past January.
"This campaign is the opportunity the Hip-Hop generation has been working for," Clemente wrote in an email to supporters this morning. "This is our time to address the issues affecting our communities - rising unemployment, the high cost of food and housing, a lack of quality public education and access to higher education, the prison-industrial complex, and unaccountable corporate media. These issues are not being addressed by either the Republican or Democratic nominee."
Clemente has been one of the most prominent national hip-hop activists for nearly a decade. She was one of the co-founders of the National Hip-Hop Political Convention and of REACHip-Hop, a New York City-based coalition that launched a boycott of Hot 97 for greater accountability and balance on the airwaves. Affiliated with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Clemente has been a prominent national organizer around securing aid to Gulf Coast victims of Katrina, and against the verdicts in the Sean Bell case.
Clemente's potential VP run was welcomed by many in the hip-hop community.
"I've never voted in the Presidential election; I've never felt strongly enough about a candidate to, said rapper M1 of Dead Prez. "I feel that now is the greatest opportunity for the Hip-Hop community to put our collective strength and power to the test and vote for someone who represents who we are and what we stand for."
"It's a good sign of political maturity for hip-hop," Troy Nkrumah, 2008 Chair of the National Hip-Hop Political Convention, said of Clemente's run. "There are issues we've been screaming about to the candidates and they've ignored them--whether police accountability, the prison system, or the war in Iraq. They touch the issues on the surface, they talk about change, but their policies are in line with Bush. A lot of us were turned off."
"But Rosa is one of the people that knows we need systemic change, especially the youth community," he added. "She has a history of speaking her mind, not holding her tongue, and telling the truth."
Rosa A. Clemente's Statement on her Vice-Presidential Candidacy
"I am honored and excited to accept this invitation to run with Cynthia McKinney. Cynthia McKinney is a hero to me and many others across this country and around the world for her courage in standing up to George Bush while the Democratic Party establishment caved.
"This campaign is the opportunity the Hip-Hop generation has been working for. This is our time to address the issues affecting our communities – rising unemployment, the high cost of food and housing, a lack of quality public education and access to higher education, the prison-industrial complex, and unaccountable corporate media. These issues are not being addressed by either the Republican or Democratic nominee.
"I choose to do this, not for me, but for my generation, my community and my daughter. I don't see the Green Party as an alternative; I see it as an imperative. I trust that my Vice Presidential run will inspire all people, but especially young people of color, to recognize that we have more then two choices. Together, we can build the future we've been dreaming of."
Hip-Hop artist M1 says, "I've never voted in the Presidential election; I've never felt strongly enough about a candidate to. Knowing that Rosa Clemente is down with Cynthia McKinney's run, I feel that now is the greatest opportunity for the Hip-Hop community to put our collective strength and power to the test and vote for someone who represents who we are and what we stand for."
Rosa Clemente addresses the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis, June 7, 2008
Chuck D of Public Enemy says: "When you need a dynamic, stylish women to get your campaign going or to get your organization excited about activism, Rosa is the person you are looking for, she speaks from the heart with truth, fire and passion. She is one of this generations' most important political voices and community organizers."
Rosa Alicia Clemente is a community organizer, journalist and Hip-Hop activist. Born and raised in the South Bronx she is a graduate of the University of Albany and Cornell University. A much sought after commentator, political activist, community organize and independent reporter, Rosa has been delivering workshops, presentations and commentary for over ten years.
Rosa's academic work has been dedicated to researching national liberation struggles inside the United States, with a specific focus on the Young Lords Party and the Black Liberation Army. While a student at SUNY Albany, she was President of the Albany State University Black Alliance (ASUBA) and Director of Multicultural Affairs for the Student Association. At Cornell she was a founding member of La Voz Boriken, a social/political organization dedicated to supporting Puerto Rican political prisoners and the independence of Puerto Rico.
Rosa has written for Clamor Magazine, The Ave. magazine, The Black World Today, The Final Call and numerous websites. She has been the subject of articles in the Village Voice, The New York Times, Urban Latino and The Source magazines. She has appeared on CNN, C-Span, Democracy Now and Street Soldiers. In 2001, she was a youth representative at the United Nations World Conference against Xenophobia, Racism and Related Intolerance in South Africa and in 2002 was named by Red Eye Magazine as one of the top 50 Hip Hop Activists to look out for. In 1995, she developed Know Thy Self Productions, a full service speakers bureau, production company and media consulting service. Seeing a need for young people of color to be heard and taken seriously she began presenting workshops and lectures at colleges, universities, high schools, and prisons. In the past ten years she has presented at over 200 colleges, conferences and community centers on topics such as; African-American and Latino/a Intercultural Relations; Hip-Hop Activism; The History of the Young Lords Party; and Women, Feminism and Hip Hop. KTSP now includes an expanded college speakers bureau which has produced three major Hip Hop activism tours, "Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win" with M1 of dead prez and Fred Hampton Jr.; "The ACLU College Freedom Tour" with dead prez, DJ Kuttin Kandi, Mystic and comedian Dave Chapelle; and the "Speak Truth to Power" Tour a collaborative tour of award winning youth activists.
In 2003, Rosa helped formed and coordinate the first ever National Hip Hop Political Convention that drew over 3000 activists who came together to create and implement a national political agenda for the Hip-Hop generation. 10 days after Hurricane Katrina ravaged parts of the south, Rosa traveled to the areas as an independent journalist and her on the ground reports were reported on independent radio stations all over the world, including Air America, NPR, Pacifica Radio, Democracy Now, Indy media, Hard Knock Radio and many more independent and mainstream media outlets.
On Brian Schweitzer as VP Wednesday, June 4, 2008 www.FiveThirtyEight.com Last night, Senator Jon Tester impishly threw Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's name into the ring as a potential VP choice. That set off a bunch of thoughts, because I have a closer perspective on Schweitzer than most bloggers. Without going into too much detail, I've worked a short while in Montana politics, enough to feel relatively confident in the following analysis.
The first time I heard Brian Schweitzer speak, I thought: "This guy is going to be President." That is not a common reaction on my part to politicians. I've listened to hundreds and hundreds of Democratic politicians speak, and I've only had that reaction twice in my lifetime. The first was Barack Obama, the second was Brian Schweitzer.
People have asked me what it was that made me feel so strongly in reaction, and the way I'd put it now is that Brian Schweitzer and Barack Obama are the two "new Democrat" styles that are extremely effective in the post-Clinton era. Both emphasize solutions over partisanship. Both are suspected by Republicans of talking a good game of bipartisanship and hewing to traditional Democratic Party ideology. Both are great communicators, but with different rhetorical strengths. Obama rose from an mainly urban and intellectual background; Schweitzer's breakthrough is probably the single best example of why the Democrats chose Denver as the convention site this year.
In addition to being a strong speech-giver, Schweitzer is a gifted quote-machine. He regularly delivers the glib, funny ways of both explaining his position on policy and mocking his opponents for their unreasonableness. It's hard to think of a more effective way of developing popularity among voters who think of themselves as uncomplicated common sense types. His most notable one-liner is actually a counterpose to the legacy of national Clinton branding of the Democratic Party: "Gun control is you control your gun and I'll control mine." It's glib, it's memorable, it communicates exactly where he stands, it's populist.
It matters when you can give voters lines like that, because the real sell-job is one regular voter to another. When one guy in the barber shop says, what do you think about this guy Schweitzer, is he one of those Democrats who want to take away everyone's guns? The other regular guy remembers that line and repeats it, and now the first guy just learned Schweitzer's position even if he's a low info voter. Low info voters are the voters with whom Obama has the most trouble. None of the names bandied about in the VP talk are in Schweitzer's league when it comes to this ability.
This way of speaking is not accidental. Schweitzer has made an amateur study of right wing radio, to understand how to turn the effective glibness those toxic hosts use for their own benefit into his advantage. Schweitzer is a hell of a smart guy. A soil scientist and rancher, he spent 6 years in Saudi Arabia working on irrigation projects. He speaks fluent Arabic and has an intuitive grasp of the region based on real life experience. Certainly that would open him up to the sleazy email "Manchurian Candidate" stuff, especially as the radical Islamic Hussein Osama's running mate. But I have a feeling, knowing Schweitzer, he'd be asked about it and his response would have people slapping their foreheads in laughter with, "Yes! That's the perfect reply!"
As far as other stats, Schweitzer is one of Al Giordano's Catholic governors. He is known for energy policy, which aligns with Obama's comments about wanting to find a running mate with executive experience and energy policy expertise.
He's young (52), and if Obama were to somehow lose the presidency this year, I would immediately look into a futures bet on Schweitzer. In my mind, Schweitzer would be the clear front runner for 2012, regardless of whether he'd been on the ticket this time or not.
Now, here are a few halts on the idea. First, I've talked directly to family members who seem to honestly be saying Schweitzer doesn't have these national ambitions. I take those things seriously, but I also know that being asked to be VP would almost certainly be accepted, as Jon Tester said last night. Things change when it's real, when it's right there in your lap.
Second, Schweitzer, for all the attention and high profile he's gotten from Stewart, Colbert, 60 Minutes, the Candy Crowleys and Joe Kleins, as well as his hero status in the Democratic political blog world, Schweitzer actually doesn't have a big resume. He's only been governor of a small population state for 4 years. As a good friend who has extensive experience with both Schweitzer and Obama has pointed out, this would not necessarily be the best way to fend off the "inexperience" charge that will be leveled at Obama.
My reaction to that argument is that I take Obama's confidence at its face value - he is looking for quality people period, and willing to do battle on the attack ground of inexperience if necessary. If the truth is that this X is the right candidate, then Obama picks X and relies on his ability to meet that argument head-on and win. Moreover, I don't think the mood of the country really cares about length of resume right now. They want people with solutions, and incumbency starts out having to prove itself as a valuable quality rather than part of the problem.
Another argument against Schweitzer, the one I have long thought most persuasive, is that while most have tended to think Montana is undergoing a blue revolution, the Democrats in Montana have a much thinner bench than most realize and his departure to run on a national ticket would hurt Montana Dems badly. Take Schweitzer out of the governor's mansion, his Lieutenant Governor is a Republican. There's no obvious replacement. If Schweitzer chooses to accept a VP offer, he knows he's going to leave a mess and some unhappy allies who are negatively affected.
Now, if Tester says he'd probably take it, he'd probably take it. You notice he hesitated a bit, and I can assure you that the hesitation is all about what the ripples would be back home. Schweitzer is very popular in Montana, he came out of the 2007 Legislative Session debacle looking far better than his Republican counterparts did (in no small part because of his gift for producing quote after quote about the situation that made him look sane, reasonable and the bigger man). But a valid criticism is that Schweitzer's roster of drafted Dems to run for legislative seats in 2006 was weak at best. Montana had the only state legislative chamber that flipped blue to red in the 2006 wave. The 100-member House had been barely blue, and by 3 votes in Laurel, Republicans took back the chamber, leading to a nightmarishly confrontational Session. (Ironically, the field staffer assigned to Laurel was one who Schweitzer's brother had to be talked down from demanding his dismissal for a harmlessly-intended but poorly executed joke in a local meeting just weeks before the election.)
Montana Republicans have it in for Schweitzer. They want his head on a platter. They hate his popularity. They were willing to go nuclear in 2007's Session to undermine him. Ironically, while Schweitzer will win easy re-election against the painfully nasal Roy Brown, it's an uphill battle to hold the 26-24 Senate, much less take back the 51-49 House (one of those is a Constitution Party member who caucuses with Republicans). Particularly if Schweitzer's candidate drafting ability does not dramatically improve. If Republicans have both chambers in the 2009 Session, the #1 agenda will be to thwart Schweitzer from having any legacy after 8 years to go national.
The upshot of the Montana situation is that if Schweitzer grasps that (and I think he's savvy enough to see all the angles which are more numerous and complex than I've outlined), he might just take an offer from Obama if it comes. It's risky, because he might leave behind an ugly state situation in a vacuum and I do think he cares about that.
Will an offer from Obama come? I am probably the only poker player who has the mp3 of this year's Mansfield-Metcalfe Obama speech on his iPod shuffle. When I hear that speech, it's clear from Obama's reference to Schweitzer that he has great admiration for the governor's skill. "And how about this guy?" is how he starts out. It's obvious Obama has great appreciation for Schweitzer's talent. Obama clearly sees Schweitzer's gifts. You know Obama's thought about him as VP.
But from my reports, which well could be incomplete, is that Schweitzer had not exactly embraced Obama. I don't know why, and again I stress that this is from people I trust who have proven to have great feel for Montana politics in the past, but I cannot guarantee its accuracy. Without going into the personal, I know at least one person very close to Brian who had flirted with the Clinton camp from the early going. It adds up to there being something less than the enthusiastic support offered by Kaine, Sebelius, Richardson, Napolitano, etc.
One big advantage of adding Schweitzer to the ticket would be his ability to play the perfect VP role of constantly tweaking John McCain in the language that would reach the so called "working class white vote" that has the collective punditocracy up in "Oh Noesville!!1!!11!" Tweaking John McCain from two different rhetorical angles would resonate on a much wider platform. And tweaking thin-skinned John McCain drives John McCain out of his mind with rage. All you have to do is quote the guy accurately and he snaps. Brian Schweitzer would keep his cool. He's very hard to rattle. When Mike Lange memorably went on an end-of-session, profanity-laced diatribe against Schweitzer, Schweitzer played it masterfully by not taking the bait and emphasizing Mike Lange in a bad moment was not the Mike Lange he knew. Game, set, match.
The ultimate question: do I think Schweitzer will be offered the job? No. Barely. Gut sense. Perfectly content with being wrong.
Do I think Schweitzer would take it if offered? Yes. I was beginning to go that way, and Tester's hesitating yes pushed me there last night.
(By the way, Jon Tester is just a tremendous human being. He is also the only Senator who, if I ran into him tomorrow, my first instinct would be to give him shit. He's that real of a guy. I'm honored I got to help him. Quick story: A few days before the election, I asked him if he could do anything what would he want to do right after it was over. I believed him when he said he'd want to put on a fake beard for about three days and just go drink at a bar. I love that guy. I digress.)
Still, if I'm Obama, I'd look at Schweitzer long and hard. I do think the Clintons are determined for it not to be Richardson (I have been hearing all the zipper rumors too, and if those have any truth you can be sure that the Clintons know what they are and will have no remorse about submarining Judas with that info, unlinked to them of course).
Like a lot of you, I'd been thinking about a female choice but it does make Obama look like he had to pick "a woman" and not "the most qualified" even if Obama deems Sebelius to be the most qualified. He'd be open to that annoying, nagging charge regardless of its truth. I hadn't thought of how Clinton would react to Obama picking a woman that wasn't her, but it makes a certain kind of sense that Clinton would find it unacceptable. If she has any future chances to be the nominee, it's important to her that she still is the first. (Again, I think there is absolutely no chance of her ever being president. That's just my opinion, now that half her own party feels about her close to the way they feel about Joe Lieberman and Republicans still galvanizingly hate her. But I realize that she may be oblivious to this and will react badly if Obama picks a woman VP for this reason.)
Brian Schweitzer is a noted early morning devourer of political blogs; let's hope he's found his way over here to 538 and posts something in the comments to steer me back on course where I've erred in the analysis (ha ha). I'd also love to hear Sirota's take on the whole idea, because he knows Schweitzer's world far better than I do.
Barack Obama's vice presidential selection team has begun to ask potential candidates for information and documents, a signal that the formal vetting phase of the search process has begun.
Last week, members of the team gave Sen. James Webb of VA a list of what they needed to begin their investigation of his background and career. Webb refused, telling them that he did not want to be considered for the position.
In a statement today, Webb disclosed that he had "communicated to Senator Obama and his presidential campaign my firm intention to remain in the United States Senate, where I believe I am best equipped to serve the people of Virginia and this country. Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for Vice President."
A Democrat close to Webb confirms that a request for documents preceded his declaration to the Obama campaign. The Democrat said that Webb did not want to relive the vigors of a campaign so soon after his election to the Senate.
Webb's statement suggests that Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder, the two leaders of the team, had received instructions from Sen. Obama to vet a number of finalists, including Webb.
In general, candidates who are asked to provide information ranging from references to tax returns have been promoted to the next round by the nominee himself. Because the vetting takes lots of time, nominees tend to ask for vets of only those under serious consideration.
Republicans close to the McCain campaign say that veepstakes supervisor A.B. Culvahouse has begun to vet between eight and ten candidates, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty of MN and Ex-Gov. Mitt Romney of MA.
An Obama spokesman did not respond to an e-mail seeking confirmation or comment.
In 2004, one potential vice presidential candidate, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, took himself out of John Kerry's search process right just as his formal vetting began. Richardson and Johnson have differed in their accounts of how far along Mr. Richardson was before he decided to publicly declare that he would not be on the ticket.
Why Jim Webb Is Different -- And It's Not Just the Military Background David Sirota July 6, 2008 Huffington Post
Jim Webb has gotten a lot of attention lately in the veep speculation game -- the one that has substituted for real political reporting over the last month. Most stories focus in on his military and government career, but what I've always found so intriguing about Webb is the thing that makes him such a unique political animal: namely, that he comes from the world of writing, rather than from professional politics.
We get a bit of a glimpse of how this makes him different in his first-person Washington Post essay today. Here's my favorite part:
"When the Reagan administration came in and offered me a job in '81, I said, "No, I really want to go write again." So I went out and did some really interesting journalism and wrote [another] novel...Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to write something that I believe is really good. Writing is what I will always do, no matter what. My mind always writes. You never stop writing if you're a writer."
Personally, I really relate to this -- especially (in my exhausted book tour state) the part about being devoted to the craft of writing, and therefore having a mind that is always writing, even when your pen isn't physically on the paper. As it relates to Webb, this focus -- this glimpse into his mind -- explains why he is so interesting and unique. If you are serious about the actual craft of journalism and writing as Webb is -- and not just using the written word as a self-glorifying propaganda tool -- you end up looking at the world in a far different way than a hack politician.
I met Webb at the last Take Back America conference. A staffer of his told me that (unbeknownst to me) I made a two-page appearance in Webb's latest book, A Time to Fight, and that I should introduce myself (I actually hate meeting politicians who work in D.C., Democrat or Republican -- most of them make me feel like I need to go take a shower. I especially hate introducing myself to them, as I don't want to add to their burdensome schedule -- they have enough constituents, superfans, job-seekers, climbers and self-important journalists to deal with as it is. But since I was encouraged, I did so). And though it was a brief conversation, I definitely got a much different feeling in meeting him than in meeting almost any other politician I've met -- and I've met a helluva lot of them at this point. There's a substance and an intensity to this person that is rare in the cheapened world of politics.
Lots of Webb cheerleaders in the progressive blogosphere love him because he's berated George Bush and given a terrifically blunt State of the Union response. His toughness on military issues and his career makes victimized progressives feel like we finally have our own bodyguard of sorts -- that we have a strongman with a strong military record who is tough in opposing the neocons and the war in Iraq, a guy who shows we don't have to take chest-thumping intimidation from chickenhawks. I certainly get this rationale, and honor his long military service and solid record on military issues. But what intrigues me most about the freshman Virginia senator has little to do with him making the Left feel less wimpy on only those issues.
No, what most separates Webb from other Democratic politicians who seem tough only because of their military resume is that Webb isn't really a politician -- and I don't mean that in the ridiculous "Barack Obama, a career politician, isn't a politician" way, but in the real sense (by the way, no disrespect to Obama at all here -- I'm just stating a fact about Obama actually being a career politician, despite protests to the contrary by some of his fans).
This is a guy that regardless of the issue, displays an intense outrage -- which is a very good thing, as there's lots to be angry about. We've seen it most pronounced from Webb -- at least rhetorically -- on economic class issues -- the issues you aren't allowed to talk about in Washington, D.C.
This Wall Street Journal op-ed that he wrote before ever entering the millionaires club of the U.S. Senate remains one of the hardest-hitting, best-written pieces of economic commentary I've seen from anyone -- politician or otherwise -- in the last decade.
I'm convinced that at least some of that outrage comes from his grounding as a writer -- that if you are serious about writing and reporting, then you inevitably meet realities that quite justifiably superheat your outrage beyond the point where the machinations and spin of career politician-ism get in the way.
That someone like Webb even made it into the U.S. Senate is a good thing. And sure, while he's far from perfect, and while I'm not endorsing him as the VP choice, I am saying that the mere consideration of someone like him as a vice-presidential nominee is, unto itself, a signal that American politics is shifting rapidly -- and that's a good thing too.
An Obama/Webb Ticket Could Take Race Talk to New Places Jonathan Tilove June 12, 2008 www.realclearpolitics.com
As Barack Obama ponders a running mate, no choice would be as bracing and daring as Virginia Sen. Jim Webb -- not least because of his views on race.
Webb is a gifted writer and intellectual pugilist, a self-styled tribune of redneck (he uses the term) resentment. With the 2004 publication of his book, "Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America,'' he became a one-man anti-defamation squad for the descendants, in blood and culture, of the white settlers of Appalachia and the South. He is a fierce critic of America's growing economic inequality, who two years ago switched parties to win his Senate seat.
He is also, of late, a man who believes Obama has the potential to heal the historic rift between the Scots-Irish and African-Americans -- Webb calls them "tortured siblings'' -- and "remake American politics.''
Think Barack Delano Obama.
In his bid to become America's first black president, the Illinois senator has struggled, with mixed success, to mute racial controversy. For better or worse, choosing Webb might take the national conversation on race to places it's never been before -- into the heart of whiteness.
It's a tough call. Any race talk can roil the waters, and Webb's writings are a gale of provocative ideas. Yet there is something buddy-movie tantalizing about the man from the "Audacity of Hope'' teaming up with this equally audacious great white hope.
It could be heard in the chants of "VP, VP,'' at a massive rally in Virginia June 5, where Webb stood by Obama's side. "If you're in a fight -- and we're going to be in a fight -- you want Jim Webb to have your back,'' Obama declared.
Ever since the 1960s civil rights movement, the national Democratic Party has occupied what it sees as the moral high ground on race, even if that sometimes more resembles an electoral flood plain. But along the way, as Webb described it in "Born Fighting,'' the nation's liberal elite and "cultural Marxists'' vilified poor and working-class white Southerners as racist, effectively forging what has become the bedrock of Red State America.
Race trumped class as the dividing line. All whites -- no matter their history, culture or station -- became "haves'' by virtue of skin color. And yet, Webb wrote of those he saw as his struggling kin, "If these were the people who took something away from black America, where did they hide it -- inside their corn-shuck mattresses?''
This is tendentious history. "Webb comes across as an apologist for the legacy of racism in the South,'' Michael Newton, a Celtic scholar from North Carolina, wrote in a scathing review of "Born Fighting'' that he entitled "Born Frothing.''
But in Webb's view the unfairness reached its zenith with affirmative action, which quickly grew to cover women, Latinos and Asians -- everyone who wasn't a white male. Never mind that, as Webb points out, the heavily Scots-Irish white Baptists shared more in terms of education and income with blacks than with higher-flying Jews, Chinese or, for that matter, most other whites.
In 2000, Webb described affirmative action as a "permeating state-sponsored racism that is as odious as the Jim Crow laws it sought to countermand.'' But in the course of his Senate run, his thinking evolved. He now argues it was justifiable as long as it just applied to blacks, but insufferable when it was expanded to include everyone but whites.
His solution: Either limit it to blacks, for whom it was originally intended -- a political non-starter -- or extend it to poor whites.
Obama, noting that "My daughters should be treated by any admission office as folks who are pretty advantaged,'' has indicated both race and class might properly figure in affirmative action decisions. And there are those who think Obama should seize the opportunity to move affirmative action more declaratively from race to class as a way of signaling his independence from Democratic dogma.
"It would be completely consistent with his theme to bring the country together and get beyond the old divisions and what he referred to in his race speech as the 'racial stalemate,''' said Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and leading advocate of switching to class-based affirmative action.
For Kahlenberg, an Obama/Webb ticket would be a bold step in that direction: "You have someone who is so clearly identified with the very voters whom Obama is weakest with.''
Obama's crushing defeats in West Virginia and Kentucky toward the end of the primary season coincided with Webb's TV and radio blitz for his new book, "A Time to Fight.'' In one appearance after another, Webb returned to "Born Fighting'' to argue that Appalachia's rejection of Obama was neither racist nor irredeemable.
"When I hear people say it's racism, my back gets up because this is my cultural group,'' he said May 21 on MSNBC's "Morning Joe.'' "This isn't Selma 1965.''
He elaborated later that day, on "Countdown With Keith Olbermann.'' "They're not staying away from Barack because of his race, but they have an antipathy toward the Democratic Party's movement since the '70s toward interest group politics. He's spoken on this issue, I think, quite well. He just needs to get out there and get to know these people.''
"Walk across Kentucky and West Virginia,'' Harold Ford Jr. recommended in Newsweek. The former Tennessee congressman, who in 2006 narrowly lost a campaign to become the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction, now heads the centrist Democratic Leadership Council.
But Ron Walters, an expert on black politics at the University of Maryland, thinks choosing Webb, or focusing too much energy on Appalachia, would be misguided.
Walters believes Obama will win big because of a massive increase in voter participation by those drawn to his cause. In an open letter to the Illinois senator, he warned against warping the agenda of change in pursuit of the white working class. "Such a strategy is disrespectful of Blacks by suggesting that they would stand still while Obama pursues conservative interests to their detriment,'' Walters wrote.
Still, to Alabama historian Wayne Flynt, author of "Dixie's Forgotten People: The South's Poor Whites,'' Appalachia is too big to ignore. It stretches from western Pennsylvania to northern Alabama and Mississippi, and includes quite a few transplants in crucial states like Ohio.
And it's ripe. "Rural Appalachia is primed for a rebellion against the Republican Party,'' Flynt said. Folks there are the ones suffering the greatest casualties in Iraq, the ones struggling to fill the gas tank for the long drive to subsistence jobs.
Yet Webb's appeal among "his people'' is uncertain. It was the Democratic strongholds in Northern Virginia that carried him to victory over Sen. George Allen in 2006, not the Appalachian counties in the state's southwest.
As Eve Fairbanks observed recently in the New Republic, there may be an element of liberal wish-fulfillment in the way some Democrats look at Webb.
"His emotional journey is the same one liberals want lower-class whites to undergo en masse,'' she wrote, concluding that Webb and Obama "appeal to the same voters, wine-track Democrats who come out in unprecedented droves to vote for a black man or hillbilly white because they want the party to be bigger than themselves.'' Jonathan Tilove can be contacted at jonathan.tilove(at)newhouse.com.
Governor Tim Kaine is another name that has surfaced as a possible VP candidate for Obama. He is a business-friendly centrist with working-class roots in a swing state and is a devout Catholic who speaks fluent spanish. When Republicans attacked him on his opposition to the death penalty, he ran a commercial describing how his religious beliefs led him to oppose the death penalty but he would enforce the state law (He also anti-choice and has a faith-based opposition to abortion and supports the partial-birth abortion ban). He has a strong Catholic background). There definitely seems to be this theme of finding someone with an affinity or relationship to working class whites. However, the positions taken by particular VP potentials seems to be moving to the backseat and greater focus on a the person's cultural upbringing or background. How does this impact an Obama adminstration and afterwards?
Video of Governor Tim Kaine Supporting Obama
Va. governor could help fill gap for Obama Centrist seen as dark horse among VP possibilities
By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff | June 12, 2008 New York Times
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - He is the popular governor of a critical swing state. He has working-class roots and a Harvard degree, and strong support from both business and labor. He is a devout Catholic and speaks fluent Spanish, and was the first governor outside Illinois to endorse Barack Obama for president.
Governor Tim Kaine is probably the least well known of the trio of rising Democratic stars from Virginia. The others - US Senator Jim Webb, the flame-throwing author and former Navy secretary, and former governor Mark Warner, the wealthy venture capitalist who briefly flirted with a presidential run - are regularly listed as vice presidential possibilities.
But Kaine's biography and political resume fill many of the perceived gaps in Obama's profile, making him for some analysts a dark horse in veepstakes 2008.
"The case for him is Virginia is a competitive state this time around, and he is kind of a centrist," said Dan Palazzolo, a political scientist at the University of Richmond. "He's prolife, basically, and he's got this probusiness background. He's also a big supporter of Obama."
But, as Palazzolo notes, Kaine has no military or foreign policy experience, credentials Obama also lacks and that could prove a detriment for Republican John McCain, a Navy veteran and former prisoner of war who has traveled extensively around the world during his 22 years in the US Senate. "I think they're substantial downsides," Palazzolo said.
Obama, though, clearly has warm feelings for Kaine, who befriended the Illinois senator when he came to Virginia to stump for Kaine in 2005. (They discovered that their mothers came from the same small town in Kansas.) Campaigning in Virginia last week, Obama appeared with all three of Virginia's Democratic notables, but he reserved special affection for Kaine.
"When you're in the political business, there are a lot of people who are your allies, there are a lot of people who you've got to do business with, but you don't always have a lot of friends," Obama said at a rally, according to the Washington Post's Virginia Politics blog. "The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is my friend."
It is easy to see why Obama gets on well with Kaine. Even Republicans tend to describe him as a straight-shooter whose friendly demeanor makes him hard to vilify, though they disagree on policy. Like Obama, Kaine is also known as a formidable speaker; while not flashy, he has that rare ability to "talk to large groups of people just like he would if he was in their living room, just talking to them," said Dave Albo, a Republican state legislator since 1994.
As governor, Kaine has modeled himself after Warner, a business-friendly centrist under whom he served as lieutenant governor from 2002 to 2006 and who is now running for US Senate. Both men boast of the good-government accolades their state received during their tenures.
Kaine said in an interview that their practical approach to governing has helped Virginia Democrats make enormous gains in recent years: In addition to controlling the governor's office since 2002, Democrats have gained seats in the House of Delegates; won a majority in the state Senate in 2007; and, come November, stand a good chance of controlling both US Senate seats.
"We've grabbed the problem-solver mantle from the other guys," Kaine said. "They're more the ideological party. . . . And what people want is problem-solving."
But demographic change - particularly the explosive growth in suburban Northern Virginia, where Obama racked up huge margins over Hillary Clinton in the February primary - is an even more obvious factor behind the Democratic victories. And it's the main reason Obama hopes to win the state, which has not voted Democratic in a presidential election since 1964, in November.
"I never would have thought so, but I think it's conceivable," said Ronald B. Rapoport, a political scientist at The College of William & Mary. "It's become much, much more Democratic."
It is not clear, however, that of the three Virginian vice presidential possibilities, Kaine would help Obama the most. Warner ran stronger in some rural areas of the state where Obama is weak.
"It's not because I don't like Tim Kaine, and not because Tim Kaine is not electable in Virginia, but to reach the voters that Barack Obama needs to reach - you can either take a Scots-Irish icon or a guy who's got an approval rating in the high 70s over here," said David "Mudcat" Saunders, a Democratic strategist from rural Virginia, referring to Webb and Warner, respectively. (Saunders has worked for both Webb and Warner, but not for Kaine.)
Kaine has also recently called attention to what Republicans criticize as his liberal streak. In May, he proposed a $1 billion tax package to help cover the state's growing transportation needs. And this week, he commuted the death sentence of a triple murderer on the grounds that he was too mentally impaired to comprehend he was about to die.
Though Kaine has not been as prominently mentioned among the governors seen as potential vice presidential choices, including Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Bill Richardson of New Mexico, and Janet Napolitano of Arizona, his biography sets him apart.
Kaine, 50, was raised in Kansas City, Mo., the son of an ironworker and a home economics teacher. After graduating from the University of Missouri with an economics degree, he went to Harvard Law School. After his first year, he took a year off to serve as a Jesuit missionary in Honduras, running a small vocational school for teenage boys and honing his Spanish.
"I could see the direction most students at Harvard Law School were focused on, going to big law firms in big cities, and I didn't think that was what I wanted to do," he said in the interview last week. "But I wasn't sure what I wanted to do."
Back at Harvard, he met his future wife, Anne Holton, the daughter of former Virginia governor Linwood Holton, a Republican who served in the 1970s and led the desegregation of the Commonwealth's public schools, where he made a point of sending his own children. The Holton family introduced Kaine to politics. Still, he said, his father-in-law was taken aback when Kaine "got mad" at the Richmond City Council and decided to run for a seat.
In his 2005 campaign for governor, Kaine introduced himself as a leader guided by his "family and Christian faith," and he used that image to fend off a Republican attack on a wedge issue.
When his GOP rival went after him for opposing the death penalty, Kaine responded with a TV ad in which he explained that his religious beliefs led him to oppose capital punishment, but that he would enforce the state's laws.
Kaine said he hopes religious Democrats learn to talk about their faith in campaigns - not to proselytize, but to explain themselves to voters. "Democrats talk too often about, 'Here's what I think about this issue,' " he said. "They give the policies, but they don't give the flesh and blood. Voters want to understand what motivates you." Lisa Wangsness can be reached at lwangsness@globe.com.
I have posted a video of Jim Webb introducing Obama to Virginia (June 5, 2008). It is followed by a transcript of Jim Webb's commencement speech: "Economic Fairness" (2007).
Jim Webb's Introduction of Obama to Virginia (June 5, 2008)
Senator Jim Webb's Commencement Address: Economic Fairness Jim Webb June 7, 2008
I am grateful for the opportunity to share in this important milestone in your lives.
I got my first call about being your commencement speaker late last year from Mary Ann Hovis, who is a member of your Board of Visitors. Mary Ann and her husband Bob are good friends, and huge boosters of Radford University. And if there is one thing I have learned over the past year or so, it's that Mary Ann always knows the right place for me to be. So thank you Mary Ann. And here I am.
Today is a day for families and friends, for shared memories of good times here on campus and for that feeling that comes from accomplishing something truly special.
Today, you are all winners, and I congratulate you!
here is another winner in our midst as well. Earlier this year, Dr. Donna Boyd, a professor of anthropology here at Radford University was named United States Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation's Council for the Advancement of Teaching. This is a great distinction not only for Donna Boyd, but also for the entire Radford University community. In the 26-year history of this prestigious award, this is only the fourth time a Virginian has been recognized.
If Dr. Boyd would please stand, I hope you'll all join me in congratulating her for this honor.
I also want to say a special word at the outset of my remarks about all the parents who are here with us. I'm sure that those of you who are graduating know what a very special time this is for your parents. They have worked long and hard, and sacrificed much to bring you to this point. When you remember this day, remember them. And I know that you will never take their love and support for granted.
It's also a time for grandparents. Do we have grandparents here? I was very close to my grandmother. I was also her first grandchild to finish college. She was from east Arkansas but at that time was living in California near one of my aunts. My Dad flew her out this way for the graduation. It was the first time she had ever been inside an airplane. She talked about it the whole time she was here. And then after I graduated, she decided to take the bus back, all the way to California.
Graduation ceremonies are conducted amid a sea of deep emotions. Many of you are sad to be leaving and apprehensive about the future. That's natural. Others have your cars already packed and loaded, and can't wait to get home, or off to your future endeavors. Some parents are excited. Some others are probably sobered by the notion that the sweet, energetic kid they sent away to Radford four years ago is now a young man or woman filled with ideas, independence and attitude - who is moving back home, into what they thought was an empty nest.
Commencement speakers are asked to wade into these conflicting emotions and share a few lasting pearls of wisdom and advice. It is a difficult task. Winston Churchill's advice for public speakers is particularly fitting for me today. Churchill always counseled people to "Be Clear Be Concise and Be Seated." I will try to follow that advice today.
But at the same time, I don't want to let this day pass without a few sincere and heartfelt pieces of advice.
Most important perhaps, I hope you'll never forget this special corner of Virginia. As Highlanders you have no doubt come to appreciate the mountains and the valleys - and also the people - of Southwest Virginia. This is perhaps the most pristine and beautiful part of the Commonwealth. What is less obvious to many on the outside is the rich culture and deep values that characterize Southwest Virginia and her people.
My family roots are deep and wide in Southwest Virginia, and I have spent a good bit of time down here over the course of my life. Before I ever decided even to run for the Senate, I wrote about this region and its importance to our American heritage in my book Born Fighting. I am very gratified to say that the writer Tom Wolfe called this book the most important ethnography in recent American history.
The dominant culture among the pioneers who settled these mountains were the Scots-Irish, who had made their way down the Great Wagon Trail that stretched from Lancaster Pennsylvania to northern Georgia and Alabama. They were fiercely independent people who brought with them, along with their strong religious tradition, their bags of seed, their rifles, and perhaps a cow or two, the basic principles that resulted in the creation of what we now call American-style populist democracy. For more than 270 years they have fought our nation's wars, grown its food, hauled its goods in wagons and then in trucks, worked its factories. And wherever they have gone, they have brought with them a dislike of elitism and aristocracy, and a deep respect for the law.
These values survive today in Southwest Virginia.
Three weeks ago, when the eyes of the world were drawn to the horrible events at Virginia Tech, they were on full display. We saw them in the courage and humanity of the first responders. We saw them in the way the people of Blacksburg, and Montgomery County comforted students, housed strangers and cared for the grieving. And we saw these Southwest Virginia values right here on the campus of Radford University in the way you reached out to Virginia Tech.
President Kyle, on behalf of our entire state, I want to thank you, and this university community for all you did to help Virginia Tech and its students during last month's tragedy. As you leave this campus today and for some of you, the region you've called home for at least four years - I'm fully confident that you will bring with you, wherever you may go, the real values that have always characterized Southwest Virginia: love of country, an abiding faith; a sense of service; and a determination to work hard.
And I personally hope that you will embrace another value as well. In the scriptures we are told, "For unto whomsoever much is given, much shall be required." Our country, and indeed our world community, needs you to follow this simple idea now more than ever.
All of you are fortunate to be graduating from a fine state university, in the greatest nation on earth. It is an opportunity that only a handful of people really have. Never forget that.
With the degrees you have earned today, you will have the flexibility to enter a wide range of exciting careers. And if statistics are any guide, you will probably earn a whole lot more money over your lifetime than those who are your exact same age who don't earn a degree.
By your study, you have earned these potential advantages. But as with all of us who have been blessed with such opportunities, it is important to remember that with opportunity and advantage comes responsibility.
Whatever happens in your lives, please make yourselves a promise - that you will always find a way to give something back - through service to your families, to your community, and to your country.F inally, I can't leave this podium without raising an issue that was a principal theme in my campaign last year, and will continue to be a strong focus of my time in the Senate. And that issue is economic fairness.
There are few challenges confronting this nation that are more serious or urgent than the growing sense of unfairness that hangs over our economic affairs. When one looks at the health of our economy, it's almost as if we are living in two different countries.
When I graduated college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did. Today, that CEO makes nearly 400 times what the average worker makes. That's not right, ladies and gentlemen. It goes against the notion of who we are as a people.
We all want our economy to prosper. But we also want everyone to share in that prosperity. Right now the stock market is at an all time high. Corporate profits continue to soar, and are at the highest percentage of our national wealth in recorded history. But at the same time, wages and salaries for our workers are at all-time lows as a percentage of national wealth, even though the productivity of those workers is the highest in the world.
Medical costs have skyrocketed, and more and more of our people, particularly in American rural communities live in sub-standard housing.
Our manufacturing base, once the backbone of communities in places like Radford, Martinsville and Pulaski Counties is in many cases being dismantled and shipped overseas. All over the nation, the story is the same.
In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson - the first President of Scots-Irish descent - established an important principle of American-style democracy - that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street.
As members of the Radford University Class of 2007 find their own unique place in the world, and discover their own way to serve, I would urge you to do everything in your power to recapture the spirit of Andrew Jackson's words.
We can reverse this trend. We need to develop alternative economies to take the place of industries that have slowed or dried up in the age of globalization. We need to ensure that our trade laws are fair and that they safeguard the interests of American workers. And we also need tax incentives that bring our jobs back home and keep other good jobs from going overseas.
The generations that went before us achieved some remarkable things. They populated a wilderness, created a country, gave us American-style democracy, won World War II, and prevailed in the Cold War. They grew our economy until it was the world's largest. They ended racial discrimination.
Your generation's legacy - no smaller a task - should be that you restored basic fairness to the economic affairs of our nation that you fought against the emergence of a class system in our precious democracy and that you rejected the greed that today is all to common in the boardrooms of America's corporations.
I appreciate having been able to share this special day with you, and I wish all of you the very best in what I know will be an exciting future, for each of you individually and for our country. Thank you.
Edwards rules out VP slot on Obama ticket ‘I won't do it again,’ former senator tells Spanish newspapers Associated Press June 6, 2008
MADRID, Spain - Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards has ruled out being Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket, according to interviews carried by two leading Spanish newspapers on Friday.
"I already had the privilege of running for vice president in 2004, and I won't do it again," Edwards was quoted by El Mundo as saying. El Pais, the country's other leading daily, carried similar comments.
Edwards, who ran for vice president under Sen. John Kerry four years ago and was a presidential candidate in this year's U.S. Democratic primaries, had been named as a possible running mate for Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Calls by The Associated Press to several Edwards aides went unanswered and independent confirmation of Friday's reports was not immediately possible.
Edwards praised Obama as a "visionary," the El Mundo interview said.
"We don't live in a dream world and we have a lot of work to do," Edwards was quoted as saying in comments the newspaper translated into Spanish. "But Obama's potential is unlimited." He will help campaign Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, was quoted by El Mundo as saying he would do anything possible to help the Obama campaign other than joining the ticket.
He also had kind words for vanquished Democratic hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose supporters have suggested she and Obama would make a "dream ticket" if the Illinois senator selects her as his running mate.
But Edwards said only Obama could make such a choice, and he urged him to pick somebody who shared his goals and governing style.
"Hillary Clinton is a great force in the Democratic Party and in the United States, whether she aspires to the vice-presidency or to another position," he was quoted as saying. "She is an extraordinary woman, and the role she will play depends only on her and Sen. Obama."
While in Madrid, Edwards met briefly with Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and other senior officials. He spoke Thursday to a U.S. business group in Barcelona.
Edwards dropped out of the presidential race in late January following a spirited — if underfunded — populist campaign in which he pledged to stand up for the poor and powerless against corporate interests.
Both Obama and Clinton vigorously sought his endorsement, but he chose to stand on the sidelines until May, when he finally endorsed Obama.
Obama claimed the mantle as the likely Democratic nominee on Tuesday after the final primaries in Montana and South Dakota. Clinton is expected to formally concede on Saturday.
Obama will go up against another U.S. senator, John McCain of Arizona, in the November vote to succeed President Bush.
