Who do you want for Kerry VP? Here are my top five: 1. John Edwards 2. Tom Vilsack 3. John Breaux 4. Evan Bayh 5. Bill Richardson* *Said he would not accept
John Edwards without a doubt. If he had had a chance in the race, I would have voted for him. Kerry is more of a conservative dem. and Edwards is more liberal so I think the combination would be great.
You got it backwards, I'm afraid. Kerry is the Northeastern liberal with the liberal ratings in the 90's, and Edwards is the southern populist with the liberal ratings in the 50's and 60's. That said, they are perfect together. The last competitive primary was in Georgia on March 2nd, where Kerry ended up winning by about 5%. In that primary, Edwards got 60-65% of the white vote, and KErry got 60-65% of the black vote. If Edwards was on the top of the ticket, he would take at least two southern states. Too bad that's not a reality.
Wellm McCain would almost ensure a Kerry victory, but I don't think he will be offered the spot, and I don't think he would accept.
I actually wouldn't mind McCain for Veep... but I'd say Edwards, gotta sway the South a bit. What are these "liberal ratings" you're talking about?
I'm not a Kerry fan, but I think he should pick John Edwards. Re-Elect Gore, I would think (I could be wrong) that in the Georgia primary, Edwards would've won more of the black votes (I've heard that Kerry hasn't done a great job of getting black voters excited). But the fact, the Edwards is Southern and has name recognition would make a good pick for VP.
The National Journal Releases liberal and conservative ratings on every member of congress, based on their voting records. I only have the 2001 and 2002 ratings on hand, but I do know that Kerry was ranked as the most liberal US Senator. He needs a moderate to balance this out, and Edwards or Breaux does the trick. About the South: I doubt Kerry will win a state down south, but he does have a good chance in Arkansas, and a North Carolina Poll released a few days back by Mason-Dixon (A DAMN good firm) showed Kerry-Edwards in a statistical tie in the south. Edwards' main asset as VP would be in the steel triangle (OH, western PA, WV), where is populist message is VERY popular.
Edwards won many white votes because he won alot of the god+guns Democrats in rural GA. You can see the full GA Primary exit poll results right here: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/epolls/GA/index.html
Hmm... I've always seen Edwards on the more liberal side, maybe it's just because he's very personable and makes it a point that he will help me and you and the neighbor down the street. I like that he's very much about... well... helping me! I suppose you are correct.
ImmortalDissedent, What I think you are sensing about Edwards is the 'I feel your pain' side of John. That is economic liberalism; Clinton was also able to present that image. Edwards is a Clinton New Democrat, taking free trade off of the table. Edwards is economically liberal and socially moderate; this is often defined as 'populism'. Gore ran on a populist platform (people v. the powerful), but lost because he did not really present the image of truly caring about middle America; Edwards does. If Edwards gets on the top of the ticket someday, he should win easily.
