On November 4th, 2008, 47 year old Barack Obama was elected to serve as the 44th President of the United States. Obama has been labeled the messiah, the chosen one, and has an astronomical burden of getting this country out some of the worst predicaments in American history. With that being said, Obama has the chance to go down as one of the greatest Presidents in US history if he pulls the US out of this recession, the war, and 'cures' racism. Ok, curing racism is impossible, but how about create 'tolerance'. Although I am fairly young, I can not ever remembering so much pressure on the shoulders of one man. Sure their was Jordan with the Bulls (before Pippen), Kobe after Shaq, maybe Bill Gates. But those are not nearly as important to leading a nation. It is like the unknown Doug Williams leading the Washington Redskins to the Super Bowl. Sure Williams wasn't the first black qb to ever play the game, but he was the first to the highest pinnacle. Like Tiger Woods and the Masters, Jackie Robinson and MLB, Bill Russell and the Celtic Dynasty, Tony Dungy and the Super Bowl, Obama is not the first to play the game, but he was the best candidate to bridge the gap. I use a lot of sports references because during my lifetime, the great accomplishments and firsts that are truly notorary have been through sports. Throw in entertainment and academics, all the first have already occurred. That was until we got Obama. This was my Dr. MLK moment. Hopefully this story has a better ending that MLK, but this was the event of a lifetime, one of the few first that cannot be duplicated for this nation. The historical value of this event was significant for a number of other reasons as well. For Black Americans (African-Americans, Black, etc), this marked the first person to consider themselves as Black to be named to this great honor of running our nation. For Biracial Americans, the pride of potentially becoming accepted by both sides of the aisle. But for America, the fight for equality and race relations just took a giant step forward. The bar has been raised. Personally, it was a game changer to me. The awkwardness of being first will not apply to the next generation. My child will not need to have the aspiration to be "the first black president", he can just aspire to be "president". I thought that during my lifetime, this accomplishment would happen. But I thought that it would be later in life, after the Generation X and Y were of age and had children of voting age. For this to happen so fast is amazing. And how it happened is even more amazing. I stood in line for 2.5 hours where it had previously only taken 10 minutes to vote, but it peaceful and no one was clock watching. Not to say everyone was unanimous in there vote in my polling place, but it was just a calm atmosphere. Calm...just like the Obama acceptance speech. (below)
By the Numbers:
Obama - President
Electoral Votes: 349
Popular Votes: 64,030,409
McCain
Electoral Votes: 162
Popular Votes: 56,494,802
Showing posts with label President. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President. Show all posts
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Republican VP: 5 Things You Didn’t Know: Sarah Palin
Senator John McCain caught a nation off guard with his choice of presumptive vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. So, who is Sarah Palin?
Sarah Palin is a first-term Republican governor from Alaska. She is that state’s first-ever female governor and its youngest, sworn in at age 42 in 2006. Prior to becoming governor, she served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, city council and two terms as the town’s mayor.
After losing the 2002 race for lieutenant governor, Sarah Palin was appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, resigning the position 11 months later.
Married with five children, Sarah Palin was 3 years old when John McCain became a POW in Vietnam, yet if elected to the vice presidency, she would be roughly the same age as Al Gore when he took that office.
To further acquaint you with the Republican vice presidential nominee, here are five things you didn’t know about Sarah Palin.
1- Sarah Palin tried to sell a jet on eBay
Shortly after assuming the office of governor, Sarah Palin tried to keep a campaign promise, which was to sell the Westwind II jet that had been bought by the hugely unpopular incumbent, Frank Murkowski.
In 2005, Murkowski requested almost $3 million from the Alaska legislature to buy the jet for use by him, his administration and future administrations. His request was denied, so Murkowski asked the federal government, who also denied him. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Murkowski created a special account and bought it anyway. Voters weren’t impressed with his tenacity.
A year later, Sarah Palin, as governor, listed the jet for sale on eBay, doing so three times, each time bidders failed to meet the reserve. Finally, in August 2007, she succeeded in selling it through a broker for $2.1 million -- at a loss of around half a million dollars.
2- Sarah Palin posed in Vogue
Known for her furs and otherwise stylish outfits (among politicians at least), Sarah Palin is no stranger to chic fashion, which explains why she appeared in a spread for Vogue magazine in February 2008.
In this vein, she’s also a former beauty queen: In 1984, she was crowned Miss Wasilla and she was runner-up in the subsequent Miss Alaska pageant later that year. She didn’t go home empty-handed, however, having been named Miss Congeniality. One curious thing you didn’t know about Sarah Palin is that she lost to a woman named Marilyne Blackburn -- the state’s first black Miss Alaska.
3- Sarah Palin scored the championship point in a high school basketball game
John McCain’s young and attractive running mate has earned a few monikers in her time, including Mrs. Mayor, Madame Governor, Miss Congeniality, GILF, and two notably more feisty names: cougar and, in high school she was known as “Sarah Barracuda.”
This last one she earned as captain of Wasilla High’s girls basketball team, allegedly due to her fiercely competitive spirit. That level of gamesmanship served her and her team well: In the state championship game, Sarah Palin not only scored the winning basket, but she did it with a stress fracture in her ankle.
4- Sarah Palin eloped with her high school sweetheart
Soon after Sarah Heath met Todd Palin at a high school basketball game, the two became sweethearts, but another six years would pass before they decided to tie the knot in 1988. Had it been a better fishing year for the two of them (they operated a small commercial fishery), they might have had enough money to pay for a “real” wedding; instead, they eloped, enlisting some witnesses from a nearby nursing home and dropping $35 at a local courthouse.
Known in Alaska as the “first dude,” the blue-collar Todd Palin is a four-time Iron Dog 2,000-mile snowmobile race champion and, according to a piece in the Anchorage Daily News, he is very much a house-husband.
5- Sarah Palin inhaled
Alaskans are permitted by law to possess a single ounce of marijuana, thanks first to a 2003 ruling by the Alaska Court of Appeals that made it legal to possess no more than four ounces, and later, by a Supreme Court ruling that amended the amount to one. The reason it even reached the Supreme Court was because, in 2006, then-governor Murkowski rejected the Court of Appeals ruling.
Consequently, during the 2006 race for governor, marijuana became an issue among the candidates, albeit a minor issue. At this time, Sarah Palin seemingly decided to launch a preemptive strike against any of her old stoner friends who might have been planning to climb out of the woodwork; she announced that not only had she tried weed, but that she couldn’t “claim a Bill Clinton” and say she never inhaled.
Don’t load that celebratory bowl just yet. One last thing you didn’t know about Sarah Palin is that although she did inhale, she opposes legalization.
Sarah Palin is a first-term Republican governor from Alaska. She is that state’s first-ever female governor and its youngest, sworn in at age 42 in 2006. Prior to becoming governor, she served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, city council and two terms as the town’s mayor.
After losing the 2002 race for lieutenant governor, Sarah Palin was appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, resigning the position 11 months later.
Married with five children, Sarah Palin was 3 years old when John McCain became a POW in Vietnam, yet if elected to the vice presidency, she would be roughly the same age as Al Gore when he took that office.
To further acquaint you with the Republican vice presidential nominee, here are five things you didn’t know about Sarah Palin.
1- Sarah Palin tried to sell a jet on eBay
Shortly after assuming the office of governor, Sarah Palin tried to keep a campaign promise, which was to sell the Westwind II jet that had been bought by the hugely unpopular incumbent, Frank Murkowski.
In 2005, Murkowski requested almost $3 million from the Alaska legislature to buy the jet for use by him, his administration and future administrations. His request was denied, so Murkowski asked the federal government, who also denied him. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Murkowski created a special account and bought it anyway. Voters weren’t impressed with his tenacity.
A year later, Sarah Palin, as governor, listed the jet for sale on eBay, doing so three times, each time bidders failed to meet the reserve. Finally, in August 2007, she succeeded in selling it through a broker for $2.1 million -- at a loss of around half a million dollars.
2- Sarah Palin posed in Vogue
Known for her furs and otherwise stylish outfits (among politicians at least), Sarah Palin is no stranger to chic fashion, which explains why she appeared in a spread for Vogue magazine in February 2008.
In this vein, she’s also a former beauty queen: In 1984, she was crowned Miss Wasilla and she was runner-up in the subsequent Miss Alaska pageant later that year. She didn’t go home empty-handed, however, having been named Miss Congeniality. One curious thing you didn’t know about Sarah Palin is that she lost to a woman named Marilyne Blackburn -- the state’s first black Miss Alaska.
3- Sarah Palin scored the championship point in a high school basketball game
John McCain’s young and attractive running mate has earned a few monikers in her time, including Mrs. Mayor, Madame Governor, Miss Congeniality, GILF, and two notably more feisty names: cougar and, in high school she was known as “Sarah Barracuda.”
This last one she earned as captain of Wasilla High’s girls basketball team, allegedly due to her fiercely competitive spirit. That level of gamesmanship served her and her team well: In the state championship game, Sarah Palin not only scored the winning basket, but she did it with a stress fracture in her ankle.
4- Sarah Palin eloped with her high school sweetheart
Soon after Sarah Heath met Todd Palin at a high school basketball game, the two became sweethearts, but another six years would pass before they decided to tie the knot in 1988. Had it been a better fishing year for the two of them (they operated a small commercial fishery), they might have had enough money to pay for a “real” wedding; instead, they eloped, enlisting some witnesses from a nearby nursing home and dropping $35 at a local courthouse.
Known in Alaska as the “first dude,” the blue-collar Todd Palin is a four-time Iron Dog 2,000-mile snowmobile race champion and, according to a piece in the Anchorage Daily News, he is very much a house-husband.
5- Sarah Palin inhaled
Alaskans are permitted by law to possess a single ounce of marijuana, thanks first to a 2003 ruling by the Alaska Court of Appeals that made it legal to possess no more than four ounces, and later, by a Supreme Court ruling that amended the amount to one. The reason it even reached the Supreme Court was because, in 2006, then-governor Murkowski rejected the Court of Appeals ruling.
Consequently, during the 2006 race for governor, marijuana became an issue among the candidates, albeit a minor issue. At this time, Sarah Palin seemingly decided to launch a preemptive strike against any of her old stoner friends who might have been planning to climb out of the woodwork; she announced that not only had she tried weed, but that she couldn’t “claim a Bill Clinton” and say she never inhaled.
Don’t load that celebratory bowl just yet. One last thing you didn’t know about Sarah Palin is that although she did inhale, she opposes legalization.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Democratic VP - Joe Biden - 5 Things You Didn't Know
Joseph Biden Jr. is Delaware’s longest serving Senator. Biden was elected to office in 1972, just weeks before his 30th birthday, making him among the youngest Senators in history. Since then he’s won re-reelection five times, generally by a wide margin. His 35 years of congressional tenure include service on the powerful Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (which he currently chairs) and the Committee on the Judiciary, two of the oldest in the Senate.
Put another way; Joe Biden has been in Washington since Barack Obama was 11 years old.
To further acquaint you with this vice presidential hopeful, here are five things you didn’t know about Joe Biden.
1- Joe Biden survived a brain aneurysm
In the winter of 1988 Joe Biden was chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on Supreme Court nominee Anthony Kennedy when he began to experience neck pain. The pain worsened and was joined by other problems, including nausea. Eventually, Joe Biden went to the hospital.
Turns out Biden had what’s called a berry aneurysm at the base of his brain that was leaking blood into the space between his brain and the brain’s protective lining. An emergency, six-hour surgery at Walter Reed Medical Center took care of the problem and in this regard Joe Biden lucked out, since most people with a brain aneurysm get no advanced warning -- it simply bursts, resulting in paralysis, mental impairment, coma or death.
2- Joe Biden's son is going to Iraq
Joe Biden’s oldest son, 39-year-old Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III, is not only Delaware’s Attorney General but he is also a Captain in the Delaware Army National Guard's Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, assigned to the 261st Signal Brigade in Smyrna, Delaware. Beau Biden and the 261st are being deployed to Iraq on October 3, the day after his father participates in the first vice presidential debate.
According to the Wilmington News Journal, Beau Biden’s job with the 261st is as a military lawyer who offers “legal advice on disciplining soldiers” and who advises “commanders and soldiers on issues such as wills and powers of attorney.” Their deployment is expected to last a year.
As for Joe Biden, he isn’t thrilled about his son’s deployment. Ever since he voted to authorize the use of force in 2002, Joe Biden has been one of the war’s more vocal critics.
3- Joe Biden is a member of the Alfalfa Club
Another thing you didn’t know about Joe Biden is his affiliation with one of Washington’s most secretive and elite clubs, the Alfalfa Club.
In 1913, a group of Southerners founded the Alfalfa Club in Washington D.C., allegedly for no other reason than to have an annual dinner on the birthday of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in late January.
Today, the secretive Alfalfa Club (journalists are barred from attending the dinner) has around 200 members. Most of them are part of Washington’s wealthy and elite. Along with Joe Biden, they include President Bush, his brothers and his father; Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts; a number of both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, state Governors and mayors; and some not directly involved in politics, such as Michael Dell.
4- Joe Biden was a below-average college student
Joe Biden completed his undergraduate work at the University of Delaware, but he didn’t do so in any exceptional manner. In his first three semesters he scored mostly Cs and Ds, and even an F in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). For about 100 years, starting in 1862, an ROTC class, which taught mechanics, military tactics, etc. was compulsory for most male U.S. college students. Only in physical education classes did Biden receive As.
His academic record didn’t improve much while at Syracuse College of Law either, where he graduated 76th in a class of 85.
5- Joe Biden drives a 1967 Corvette
The last thing you didn’t know about Joe Biden is what kind of wheels the man has.
Joe Biden’s current wife is his second; his first wife, Neilia, passed away, along with the couple’s daughter, in a car accident shortly after his initial election to the Senate in 1972. Joe and Neilia Biden were married on August 27, 1966, in Skaneateles, New York, and his father -- a car salesman -- gave his son a sweet wedding gift: a brand new 1967 Chevy Corvette, a car he still owns today.
Put another way; Joe Biden has been in Washington since Barack Obama was 11 years old.
To further acquaint you with this vice presidential hopeful, here are five things you didn’t know about Joe Biden.
1- Joe Biden survived a brain aneurysm
In the winter of 1988 Joe Biden was chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on Supreme Court nominee Anthony Kennedy when he began to experience neck pain. The pain worsened and was joined by other problems, including nausea. Eventually, Joe Biden went to the hospital.
Turns out Biden had what’s called a berry aneurysm at the base of his brain that was leaking blood into the space between his brain and the brain’s protective lining. An emergency, six-hour surgery at Walter Reed Medical Center took care of the problem and in this regard Joe Biden lucked out, since most people with a brain aneurysm get no advanced warning -- it simply bursts, resulting in paralysis, mental impairment, coma or death.
2- Joe Biden's son is going to Iraq
Joe Biden’s oldest son, 39-year-old Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III, is not only Delaware’s Attorney General but he is also a Captain in the Delaware Army National Guard's Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, assigned to the 261st Signal Brigade in Smyrna, Delaware. Beau Biden and the 261st are being deployed to Iraq on October 3, the day after his father participates in the first vice presidential debate.
According to the Wilmington News Journal, Beau Biden’s job with the 261st is as a military lawyer who offers “legal advice on disciplining soldiers” and who advises “commanders and soldiers on issues such as wills and powers of attorney.” Their deployment is expected to last a year.
As for Joe Biden, he isn’t thrilled about his son’s deployment. Ever since he voted to authorize the use of force in 2002, Joe Biden has been one of the war’s more vocal critics.
3- Joe Biden is a member of the Alfalfa Club
Another thing you didn’t know about Joe Biden is his affiliation with one of Washington’s most secretive and elite clubs, the Alfalfa Club.
In 1913, a group of Southerners founded the Alfalfa Club in Washington D.C., allegedly for no other reason than to have an annual dinner on the birthday of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in late January.
Today, the secretive Alfalfa Club (journalists are barred from attending the dinner) has around 200 members. Most of them are part of Washington’s wealthy and elite. Along with Joe Biden, they include President Bush, his brothers and his father; Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts; a number of both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, state Governors and mayors; and some not directly involved in politics, such as Michael Dell.
4- Joe Biden was a below-average college student
Joe Biden completed his undergraduate work at the University of Delaware, but he didn’t do so in any exceptional manner. In his first three semesters he scored mostly Cs and Ds, and even an F in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). For about 100 years, starting in 1862, an ROTC class, which taught mechanics, military tactics, etc. was compulsory for most male U.S. college students. Only in physical education classes did Biden receive As.
His academic record didn’t improve much while at Syracuse College of Law either, where he graduated 76th in a class of 85.
5- Joe Biden drives a 1967 Corvette
The last thing you didn’t know about Joe Biden is what kind of wheels the man has.
Joe Biden’s current wife is his second; his first wife, Neilia, passed away, along with the couple’s daughter, in a car accident shortly after his initial election to the Senate in 1972. Joe and Neilia Biden were married on August 27, 1966, in Skaneateles, New York, and his father -- a car salesman -- gave his son a sweet wedding gift: a brand new 1967 Chevy Corvette, a car he still owns today.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
McCain's Potential Vice Presidential Candidates
McCain is in the process of selecting someone to join his ticket
By Jill Konieczko
Sen. John McCain disclosed that he is in the "embryonic stages" of selecting a running mate, whom he hopes to introduce at the Republican National Convention. While he refused to disclose any names, McCain told reporters that the list is about 20 deep. Here are names we've identified in media reports (we'll update the list as we hear of more):
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist
Former Arkansas Gov. and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Former Ohio Rep. and former Director of the Office of Management and Budget Rob Portman
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Former Massachusetts Gov. and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford
FedEx CEO Frederick Smith
GOPAC Chair Michael Steele
By Jill Konieczko
Sen. John McCain disclosed that he is in the "embryonic stages" of selecting a running mate, whom he hopes to introduce at the Republican National Convention. While he refused to disclose any names, McCain told reporters that the list is about 20 deep. Here are names we've identified in media reports (we'll update the list as we hear of more):
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist
Former Arkansas Gov. and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Former Ohio Rep. and former Director of the Office of Management and Budget Rob Portman
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Former Massachusetts Gov. and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford
FedEx CEO Frederick Smith
GOPAC Chair Michael Steele
Obama Vice President Picks: Who Are The Frontrunners?
Obama Vice President Picks: Who Are The Frontrunners?
by Will Thomas
With the Democratic nomination now in its endgame, it's time to speculate on that question that makes politicos weak at the knees: who will be tapped to be vice president? Unlike the top job, there is no election here, and it's the first big choice that we get to see the candidate make about his cabinet.
So, who will Obama pick? Will he favor someone with experience like Joe Biden? A Western governor like Janet Napolitano? Or will he satisfy the media's desire for a dream team and try for the Obama/Clinton ticket?
We've identified 10 possible VP choices for Obama, as well as the general criteria that might guide his decision. Think we're missing someone? Let us know in the comments section. And be sure to register your favorite on HuffPost's Vice President poll.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A VEEP
Location, location, location: A VP who is popular at home can help land a win in a tossup state. It's one reason why someone like Sherrod Brown (OH) could be a good pick. Of course, location isn't everything; Cheney, after all, is from Wyoming.
Strong anti-war record: It's not a requirement that someone be against the war to run on an Obama ticket, but they will have to have a good track record explaining why they changed their mind. Otherwise, expect all those comments about Hillary Clinton to come up, as well as one word: "opportunist."
Post-partisan record: If you're running to overcome the divided state of politics, you probably won't inspire confidence by picking Sen. Russ Feingold as your running mate. Sen. Jim Webb (a former Republican) or Gov. Schweitzer (picked a Republican as his Lieutenant General) are good examples.
Complementing record: On the one hand, a VP can balance a candidate's weaknesses. On the other hand, they can magnify those shortcomings. Richardson and Biden, for example, have long resumes that let them go toe-to-toe with McCain, but it could remind voters of Obama's inexperience.
THE TOP TIER
Jim Webb
Webb is the closest thing to a frontrunner for Obama's VP these days. A former Republican, he served as Secretary of the Navy for Ronald Reagan. Webb defeated George "Macaca" Allen to become a junior senator in Virginia.
Pro: Webb is a good foil for Obama's post-partisan message, and he's got the military credentials to match up with John McCain. He's good at playing the attack dog, which will let Obama take the high road. And he's from trending-blue Virginia, which would be a great pickup in November for Democrats. He's also pro-guns.
Con: Webb can be a little out-of-control as attack dogs go.
Hillary Clinton
This ticket is either a dream or a nightmare. Some see it as the only way to reunite the Democrats in time for November. Other see it as the fastest way to destroy the Obama brand.
Pro: Strong appeal with working class voters and women.
Con: See Iraq War vote, 3AM phone call, Bill Clinton in South Carolina, and the month of March.
Bill Richardson
You know him, you love him; he's the New Mexico governor with a heart of gold, a kickin' mustache, and -- thanks to James Carville -- a new nickname.
Pro: You've heard them all before. A foreign policy resume a mile long, executive experience, and a lock with Hispanic voters. And he picked Obama, despite his Clinton ties.
Con: Did you watch any of the debates?
Joe Biden
He is Mr. Foreign Policy. He also claims the best line of the primary season thus far. Too bad no one told Iowans he was running for President.
Pro: He trumps any foreign policy claims that McCain brings to the table. He can hit McCain hard.
Con: He tends to hit everyone hard. And he's a Washington figure, which could hurt a campaign running against Washington.
Brian Schwietzer
Never heard of him? You should. Schweitzer has been Montana's governor since 2005, and is currently one of the most popular governors in the country.
Pro: In addition to his executive experience, Schweitzer has spent a good amount of time around the world (including the Middle East) in his former life as an irrigation developer. His popularity and his pro-gun stance could help Obama in the Mountain West area. He also refused PAC and special interest money during his 2004 campaign. He's also criticized the economic consequences of the Iraq War, an approach that Obama has recently adopted.
Con: Despite his travels, he has no official foreign policy experience. He also doesn't bring in any delegates from his own state (though that could be offset if he helps in places like North Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado).
WORTH WATCHING
Janet Napolitano
Another popular Western governor, Napolitano has settled into a second term in McCain's very red home state. She also backed Obama early in the race.
Pros: She has proven her executive capacity in Republican territory, as well as the Southwest, which will help sway Obamicans. A female candidate could also help reunite the Democrats.
Con: Her stance on immigration could prove costly among Hispanic voters.
Sherrod Brown
Brown is a favorite among progressives for his economic populism and outspoken criticism of the war.
Pro: Could help deliver an important swing state.
Con: Doesn't really satisfy the idea of a unity ticket.
Chuck Hagel
A Republican senator who has fought with Bush tooth and nail over the Iraq war, Hagel is one of three Republicans who voted with the Democrats over a withdrawal plan. He also has served on the Banking, Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees. Hagel has also said he's considering endorsing Sen. Obama.
Pro: Broad Senate experience. A living embodiment of Obama's commitment to work with like-minded Republicans. Also is a veteran with experience in Reagan's administration
Con: He is still a Republican (especially on abortion and health care), which would not sit well with a lot of Democrats.
Wesley Clark
Rhodes Scholar turned four-star general and once-presidential candidate. A star resource for Democrats on military affairs.
Pro: John McCain would have to salute him. And he has Southern appeal.
Con: Backed Clinton early and has been a very active surrogate. Not always the best politician on a national stage.
Kathleen Sebelius
Talk about reaching across the aisle. This Kansas governor convinced a Republican to leave his party, become a Democrat, and run as her lieutenant governor. Kansas is rife with stories of Republicans undergoing conversions, and Sebelius gets a good amount of credit for this.
Pro: Another Red-state governor with an excellent post-partisan record. Having a female VP could be a strong ticket.
Con: Sebelius didn't wow anyone with her response to the State of the Union, which raises questions about how she would do on the national stage. And her location in Kansas doesn't add much that Obama doesn't already get from Illinois.
Tom Daschle
The former South Dakota senator, Daschle has been a strong supporter of Obama's campaign; he's a national co-chair and is rumored to play a big part in the campaign strategy.
Pro: Can bring in votes from his home state.
Con: Weak campaigner: he lost his Senate seat while he was the sitting Majority Leader.
HONORABLE MENTION
Mike Bloomberg
Sure, most voters have never heard of him. And sure, he's never been a national player. But the current mayor of New York has been a darling of the media, as they spent months seeing if he would get into the Presidential race. Coupled with some private conversations with Obama that caused a tizzy in the fall, a Bloomberg candidacy could cause some media attention that would rival that of even John McCain.
Pros: Excellent economic record. Interested in policy minutiae. Post-partisan (former Republican switched to Independent). Media darling.
Cons: Unheard of outside his home state. It's tough not to seem like an elitist when the world 'billionaire' applies to you.
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