tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14231145.post6723457639415144820..comments2023-12-30T23:02:57.931-08:00Comments on Deep Thought: Richardson endorses Obama.Eli Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00792743206074537073noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14231145.post-68443170588002839302008-04-07T18:20:00.000-07:002008-04-07T18:20:00.000-07:00I was going to post exactly the point you made in ...I was going to post exactly the point you made in a comment on here Eli. As much as I think the race issue is overplayed, I think it would be unwise and unrealistic for the Dems to run two minorities on the ticket.<BR/><BR/>In fact, I think that making history once is probably enough for them, and my guess would be that we will see a white male on the ticket with Obama, not a female or another minority. I also think that it may not necessarily be someone from the Clinton camp, but someone from the "Washington insider" group nonetheless. I think this move would bring over Clinton supporters by bringing Obama's message of hope back down to the ground, and having a practical, experienced person there to temper his "unrealistic" hopes.<BR/><BR/>One interesting thought I had today was Al Gore. In last week's <I>Time</I> they discussed a very farfetched possibility of him actually winding up as the nominee with Obama as Veep. That's extremely unlikely at this point.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, that ticket is still a possibility. Between already having served in the office, and his recent, though in my opinion undeserved, Nobel Prize, why not Gore? There is no term limit on the Vice Presidency, and Gore will likely attract many voters that might not otherwise support Obama. In addition, he is a very conservative (not politically, but in the sense of not representing change) option, to balance out the unfortunately still radical idea that we would have a young, smart, black (triple threat, you know) male as our next President.Zachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13651452928935595402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14231145.post-25552499135508617442008-03-27T08:23:00.000-07:002008-03-27T08:23:00.000-07:00Of course while picking Richardson might help with...Of course while picking Richardson might help with Hispanic voters, there is the countervailing concern that (especially after the Wright controversy) that race has now been injected into the campaign in a way that might make a ticket of both an African-American and a Hispanic an issue with white voters (even though both Obama and Richardson had one white parent.)<BR/><BR/>I've never been a fan of Hillary Clinton, to be honest, but I really do believe that in order to unify the party that Obama will need to do the best job he can of reaching out to Clinton supporters. I'm not all that sure that Hillary wouldn't take the number two slot if Obama offered it to her either. If he wins then she would be in a position to be the front-runner eight years later (i.e. Richard Nixon (1960) Walter Mondale, George H.W. Bush and Al Gore.) She would be pushing seventy by then, but she might ironically find that door opened a little wider, ironically by John McCain (even if he loses.)<BR/><BR/>She has a losing hand, unless something really dramatic happens between now and the convention. But she does (and will, once the primaries are over) have the strength to negotiate, even though it is based mostly on a negative angle (promising to support the nominee in return for, for example, the VP slot and the right to for example be the point person on health care or perhaps some other issues.)Eli Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00792743206074537073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14231145.post-19440394952172357172008-03-24T12:04:00.000-07:002008-03-24T12:04:00.000-07:00I like your very thoughtful and detailed post on t...I like your very thoughtful and detailed post on this topic. I agree it is too late to be much help for Obama. It does smell a bit like he was trying to hitch his horse to the winning ticket. I was also for Richardson and was very interested in this event. It seems that Richardson has not and does not get the attention he should as a significant player and this news is really not big news in the race. <BR/><BR/>I agree with Indy voter that Obama needs help with the hispanic vote and Richardson could really help more if he were the VP rather than just an endorser and the forign policy experience would be a big help too.<BR/><BR/>There is no way that Clinton would be Obama's VP. She cannot respect the fact that the American people actually would choose Obama over her and could not go out and campaign for him for months. <BR/><BR/>I have not seem such a good overview of the politics and options for VP nominees. Nice work. The only other thought would be a military person or a female senator with some forign policy experience. I know Wesley Clark is for Clinton but I wonder whether he would switch. Do you know about Boxer or Finestein? I know they are liberal and from CA but they may appeal to the older Clinton supporters?froggypragerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12135843616500795566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14231145.post-82140027240314085232008-03-24T07:54:00.000-07:002008-03-24T07:54:00.000-07:00Michael Coleman of the Albuquerque Journal wrote i...Michael Coleman of the Albuquerque Journal wrote in the Easter Sunday paper that Richardson told him he'd promised Obama he'd endorse him a full 10 days before the public announcement came, but that the announcement was delayed because Richardson and his wife were going to the Caribbean for a vacation. The article says Richardson felt Obama's speech confirmed to him that he'd made the right decision.<BR/><BR/>I don't think Richardson will be Obama's VP choice either but I will make what I think is the main case in favor of Richardson getting selected. One of the issues that Obama has is that he's weak among hispanic voters and there's a real worry that a significant number will vote for McCain. There's two reasons for that worry: (1) McCain has a reputation as a moderate (for a Republican) on immigration; and (2) there's a lot of long-standing mistrust between blacks and hispanics. Picking Richardson would be a significant move towards preventing movement of Latino voters towards McCain.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com