Centerfield

There is either an actual movement trying to get this done or this is the biggest tease in American political history.

This ain't a tease. It's just political junkies killing time until something newsworthy happens.

The only problem with the endless speculation is that when Kerry does pick someone, that person will be seen as a disappointment compared to McCain.

Yeah, i agree with staunch. This McCain tune is a wish, a yearnful song from the hearts of deeply dissatisfied independents and moderates.

"Oh, that I could vote without holding my nose, oh that I could cast a ballot proudly, oh that I could stand behind a leader strong and true, oh that we could democratize Iraq, balance the budget, and wash away the plague of partisan rancor on a rising tide of honest sensible clear-minded insight into our common needs."

This tide is a wishful wave that will crash on the unforgiving shores of political realism and then quietly recede.

I'm still hoping Kerry will tap another Republican -- Christine Todd Whitman.

In addition, is the veep pick going to influence who you vote for? I don't think it affects many people's decisions.

1988 would be a good example of the extremes. Bush wasn't hurt by his choice of a nobody like Quayle for a running mate. Plus, Dukakis was in no way helped by a powerhouse (and some say better prez pick) like Bentsen.

Nobody really pays attention to the VP until the president dies.

Yes, historically you are correct Staunch, but that is because nobody exciting ever gets picked for the veep spot.

I see it as a commitment from Kerry... He talks about balancing the budget, appointing judges based on merit, tax cuts for the middle class, winning the war on terrorism, placing environmental restrictions on the auto industry and other ideas that upset some in the typical Democratic base. Is this how he plans to govern or is he simply a lefty running to the center to win an election?

I think if he picks not just McCain, but Bob Kerrey, Evan Bayh, Bob Rubin, Sam Nunn, John Breaux, or another centrist, it will go along way toward validating the fact that he wants to govern the entire country and not just 51% of it.

I agree that McCain is never going to be picked, but the fact that the Kerry campaign, Gephardt, Biden, Hillary and other democrats all speak approvingly of the idea indicates to me that this is a coordinated tease.

...and I disagree that Quayle did not have an effect. I think his selection went a long way toward calming a lot of conservatives who had uneasy feelings toward Bush I.

Kerry, by picking a centrist, could do the same for a lot of independents.

You're probably right about that SM, but Quayle certainly didn't help Bush I in 1992 in comparison to the Clinton / Gore, which at the time was touted as changing the role of the VP into a "dual presidency". I'm not saying it had an effect on the outcome; Ross Perot was the kiss of death for Bush in that election.

I think the closest that Kerry could come to picking a Republican is Zinni. That 60 Minutes interview showed me, at least, that this guy has some skills necessary to be an effective politician.

If it does affect your vote, Mathew, then that's enough to prove me wrong.

And you're right, Will, recently presidents have actually included the vice president in day-to-day affairs. Gore, at the time, was called the most influential VP ever. And Cheney has had unprecedented exposure and influence on Bush, even from his undisclosed locations.

(No, I'm not one of those dorks who says, "Cheney is the real president." It has been a long-running joke that the sitting president doesn't really run things. It's always Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, or Hillary Clinton. I guess Laura Bush is too much in the shadows to get that designation.)

Anyhow, I think people would pay more attention to the VP selection if they knew he would do something productive. And during a campaign, candidates should be upfront about it and advertise how their running mates will contribute. (ie, Bush could say, "Cheney will be in charge of creating an energy policy to help wean America off foreign sources of oil while I fight the war on terror." Or somesuch.)

There's no reason to have the veep, who needs to be qualified to be president anyways, to sit around and do nothing. Candidates should campaign as a team.

I signed the petition at the Kerry-McCain website that Bill mentions above.

Just want to say that I think all three of the names mentioned here -- McCain, Whitman, and Zinni -- are potentially outstanding choices. There's a deep pool of leadership talent just in those three names.

Alan Murray (the Raging Moderate) wrote a great column about McCain's place in the Republican Party and the willingness of Democrats to try to tap into his popularity without realizing that the man is ideologically opposed to most everything they stand for (except campaign finance reform). It's a great read.

More time wasting. No way McCain would do it.

Think it's about time the VP spot means more to all.
This fatherly image of thinking of one person making decisions and leading rather than a Team is old time and neanderthalike.

I am almost to the point of thinking about electing three for sharing the helm.

You say the veep won't decide the election? CNN just released a poll showing these amazing stats:

Kerry-McCain 53%
Bush-Cheney 39%

Can you say landslide?

Excuse me...has anyone bothered to ask McCain's opinion?