Veepstakes: Strick says no thanks
Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 9:09 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
2008
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland was asked by NPR's Norris about Obama's ability to win in rural or Appalachia Ohio. "Well, I have been asked if there may be a racial element to this and let me just be real candid about that. I think race involves everything that happens in this country, wherever it occurs -- large city, small towns, or any region of our country. But I can also tell you that there are two ways to run statewide in Ohio: you can use the John Kerry approach or you can use the Ted Strickland approach. And I have suggested to Senator Obama’s campaign leadership that they need to use the Ted Strickland approach. Now, what is that approach? That approach is recognizing that Ohio is big and diverse, that there are different economies in Ohio, and that it is important to reach out to all of Ohio. And I believe Barack Obama can and will carry Ohio because I think he’s going to understand that you can’t just appeal to the large metropolitan areas and ignore or neglect the rest of the state.
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VIDEO: NBC Political Director Chuck Todd takes a look at Sen. Barack Obama's "short list" of potential running mates and discusses Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland expressing no interest in the position.
MS. NORRIS: If you’re out campaigning with Barack Obama with the fervor that you have just described in the course of this interview, should we see that as a bit of an audition for you?
STRICKLAND: Absolutely not. If drafted, I will not run; nominated, I will not accept; and if elected, I will not serve. So I don’t know how more crystal clear I can be.
NORRIS: Don’t they all say that, though?
STRICKLAND: No, I don’t think they all say that. I’ve heard people say, ‘you know, if I was asked, it would certainly be something I would have to consider.’ That does not mean that I am any less committed to helping Barack Obama become the next president.”
The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder writes: “Gov. Ted Strickland's strict and unequivocal statement about his lack of interest in being vice president or accepting a nomination was news to most of the media, and to me. But not to Ohioans. It seems that Strickland has said the exact same thing for a year. Didn't matter whether Hillary Clinton was the presumptive nominee. Here's Strickland in November of 2007.”
First Read reported yesterday on Gen. James L. Jones (ret.) being discussed. AP writes, “A running mate from the military ranks could help address concerns that Obama lacks foreign policy experience, having served just three years in the Senate. It could also provide a counterpoint to the military bonafides of the GOP ticket, which will be led by Vietnam War hero John McCain.”
Politico looks at Jim Webb's affinity for the Confederate history.
Bloomberg News notes the reality regarding Lieberman getting the nod from McCain, his support for abortion rights. "Evangelicals need look no further than Lieberman's Senate record -- which includes support for abortion rights, gun control, gay civil unions and stem-cell research -- to find reasons to reject him."
Meanwhile, “McCain praised Mayor Bloomberg yesterday -- talking up Hizzoner as a strong candidate for governor and refusing to rule him out as a vice presidential candidate,” the New York Post writes. “ ‘We don't talk about our vice-presidential possibilities,’ he said, but pointedly added, ‘I appreciate Mayor Bloomberg enormously and the great job he's done as mayor.’”
USA Today has five lessons for picking a running mate:
1. Be wary of so-called "Dream" tickets. "Still, presidential nominees tend to be wary of dream tickets -- there hasn't been one in a generation -- because of scars from old battles and qualms about loyalty."
2. Do no harm. "Eagleton is the most dramatic example of a running-mate pick gone awry. ... After the Eagleton episode, Carter became the first presidential candidate to put prospective running mates through more stringent and systematic vetting, a practice that McCain and Obama are following. Each has appointed high-profile teams to the task."
3. Mind the gap. "A running mate can help mollify a voter bloc, put a state in competition or fill a gap in experience. ... This year, gender balance might be a factor. Obama could reach out to female voters unhappy about Clinton's failure to win the nomination by putting another woman on the ticket — Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, perhaps, or Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. If Obama doesn't, McCain could try to exploit those hard feelings among Clinton supporters and attract their votes by choosing a female running mate. ... McCain's choice also could try to address concerns about his age. At 72, he would be the oldest president inaugurated for a first term. He "really needs a vice presidential candidate, a partner with him who I would suggest is a young up-and-coming governor with executive experience who could help balance, obviously, the age issue," Kemp said. "It's no secret."
4. Agree on the duties. "When the talks with vice presidential prospects get serious, the nominee and the potential running mate need to agree on the job description, say those who have gone through the process. That could be a particular issue in the wake of Cheney's service as the most powerful vice president in U.S. history, Bush's central adviser on issues from the invasion of Iraq to energy policy."
5. It's not a "buddy" picture: "We try to turn this (into) a buddy film," Klain, who led the process of choosing a running mate for Gore, said in an interview. "You know -- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the Lone Ranger and Tonto, Batman and Robin. But that's not what it's like. It's more like a CEO picking a COO (chief operating officer), an editor-in-chief picking a managing editor. You need someone you can work with … and you need someone who is a potential successor in the event of crisis or calamity."
