First off, congratulations to Senator Obama. He ran a long, tough race against not one but two Clintons. And he has become the first black presidential nominee from a major political party in the United States of America. I’ll probably have more to say about Obama’s voting record and agenda later. But for now, I wanted to acknowledge his singular accomplishment.
I agree with Dick Morris; Obama should not pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate. For one, she’s already been VP, and would bring her own agenda to the table–an agenda that would continue to compete with his. Her defiant speech tonight is a foretaste of how she would maintain attempts to steal Obama’s thunder (she was essentially trying to intimidate him into picking her, particularly by entreating her supporters to “go to my Web site…and share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can.”) Lastly, I can only imagine the complications that former President Clinton would present. Obama should be conciliatory toward Clinton, let tensions die down, and then, come early July or so….pick someone else. If she really cares about her party, she’ll campaign for him anyway.
Now as for McCain: He needs to get better at speech delivery. Tonight was unacceptable. And he needs to get a young, energetic VP candidate who can excite people. With Lucas Roebuck, I suggest Mike Huckabee. Huckabee would neutralize (to some extent) Obama’s appeal with younger voters. Huckabee would help deliver the south. And McCain likes being around Huckabee. Tonight, FOX news had Huckabee among the top five potential picks. My take: Huckabee’s the best choice. Gov. Bobby Jindal of LA is too young. Romney is too scripted (and McCain does not get along well with him). Governors Crist and Pawlenty both lack sufficient national recognition–and with Obama perceived as isolating Florida Dems, Florida should go to McCain without great difficulty. (McCain also won the FL primary.)
Related: Obama supports infanticide