Sources close to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry are suggesting that Kerry might announce his running mate early next week. So far the speculation centers on North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt, and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. Internet gossipmonger Matt Drudge is passing along rumors that Kerry will make a more spectacular pick—New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Somehow I doubt it.
According to the sources of the Hillary boom, choosing Clinton would be a “bold” move and would excite the Democratic base. The Kerry/Clinton ticket would catch the wave of Clinton nostalgia sweeping the American left in the wake of the My Life book tour. And it would put to rest the idea that the Clintons are holding back on the Kerry ticket in hopes of the nomination in 2008, thus unifying the party.
Well, yes, but…Hillary Clinton for Vice President would excite the Republican base even more than the Democratic base. Can you imagine the television advertisements? And, remember, Jim Johnson, who is running Kerry’s V.P. search, headed the same process for Walter Mondale in 1984. Does he really want to risk another liberal first-term female legislator from New York who has a husband with a history of ethical problems?
I will probably be surprised by the Kerry choice. I usually am. In 1988, I predicted that Michael Dukakis would choose Ohio Sen. John Glenn and George Bush would choose New York Rep. Jack Kemp. In 1996, I thought Bob Dole would tap William Bennett or California’s Dan Lungren.
So if not Hillary, who? Keep in mind my predictions on this issue have about as accurate a track record as Matt Drudge’s, but I will venture out here to say this: the Kerry VP pick will be a former U.S. senator from Georgia.
The speculation now centers on the Edwards/Vilsack/Gephardt triumvirate. I don’t think any of them will be the final choice. Vilsack and Edwards have sought the nomination so heartily that they practically printed up bumper stickers. And, while Dick Gephardt does have the heft of policy experience, do you really want to choose a running mate whose image most Americans remember from when he turned over the House gavel in defeat to Newt Gingrich in 1994? Media sources also point to Delaware Sen. Joe Biden and former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen. Now that’s sure to energize the country—a liberal Republican Unitarian from Maine.
If I were Kerry, I’d choose none of the above.
Veepstakes Update
The American Spectator is reporting that the Kerry campaign has asked Richard Gephardt, John Edwards, Tom Vilsack, and “a surprise candidate” to clear their schedules for early next week. The magazine also reports that staff members for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) have been told by higher-ups that they may need suddenly to shake up the senator’s calendar for next week.
