A JFK-NBC Ticket?
If Kerry wants to make things interesting, he'll consider Tom Brokaw for veep.
Wall St Journal | 8 Mar 04 |
It's easy to overstate the importance of a vice-presidential nominee. The truth is that few people vote for a ticket based on the No. 2 candidate. Geraldine Ferraro failed to attract enough female voters to carry even two states, and Dan Quayle alleged dimness didn't keep George H.W. Bush from winning a resounding victory. But the veep choice can matter on the margins, which is why I'll make two guesses as to what John Kerry will do. If he thinks in conventional political terms, the safe bet is Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri. If he wants to make a bold choice, he will offer the job to retiring NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw. One prominent Republican says the idea of Mr. Brokaw on the Democratic ticket "worries me a lot."
I know the chattering classes, which became enamored of Sen. John Edwards's weepy "Two Americas" speech, are promoting a Kerry-Edwards ticket. But Mr. Edwards has a weak image in his home state of North Carolina and would be unlikely to help Mr. Kerry carry it. Having turned out the lights on Mr. Edwards's insurgent candidacy, the vain Mr. Kerry isn't likely to help turn a media spotlight back on him by offering him the vice presidency.
Sen. Bob Graham of Florida would be an obvious choice, hailing from the ultimate battleground state. But the 67-year-old Mr. Graham ran a haphazard campaign for president, invites ridicule for his obsessive habit of recording everything he does during his waking hours, and may not help all that much with Florida's many new voters, since he hasn't been on a ballot in Florida for six years.
Mr. Gephardt, the former House minority leader, is a safe choice. Charlie Cook of National Journal notes that Missouri is the most evenly divided state in the union; it is also the country's most reliable bellwether, having gone with the victor in every presidential election since 1956. Mr. Gephardt's "presence of the ticket would most likely tip its 11 electoral votes," says Mr. Cook. His strong ties to unions could also help Mr. Kerry boost voter turnout in key industrial states such as Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Mr. Kerry may decide the way to shake up the race is to make a truly unconventional choice, as Walter Mondale tried to do when he picked Ms. Ferraro, the first-ever woman on a national ticket, in 1984. This year the equivalent choice to pick up the "in" demographic group would be New Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson, who is Latino.
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If Kerry wants to make things interesting, he'll consider Tom Brokaw for veep.
Wall St Journal | 8 Mar 04 |
It's easy to overstate the importance of a vice-presidential nominee. The truth is that few people vote for a ticket based on the No. 2 candidate. Geraldine Ferraro failed to attract enough female voters to carry even two states, and Dan Quayle alleged dimness didn't keep George H.W. Bush from winning a resounding victory. But the veep choice can matter on the margins, which is why I'll make two guesses as to what John Kerry will do. If he thinks in conventional political terms, the safe bet is Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri. If he wants to make a bold choice, he will offer the job to retiring NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw. One prominent Republican says the idea of Mr. Brokaw on the Democratic ticket "worries me a lot."
I know the chattering classes, which became enamored of Sen. John Edwards's weepy "Two Americas" speech, are promoting a Kerry-Edwards ticket. But Mr. Edwards has a weak image in his home state of North Carolina and would be unlikely to help Mr. Kerry carry it. Having turned out the lights on Mr. Edwards's insurgent candidacy, the vain Mr. Kerry isn't likely to help turn a media spotlight back on him by offering him the vice presidency.
Sen. Bob Graham of Florida would be an obvious choice, hailing from the ultimate battleground state. But the 67-year-old Mr. Graham ran a haphazard campaign for president, invites ridicule for his obsessive habit of recording everything he does during his waking hours, and may not help all that much with Florida's many new voters, since he hasn't been on a ballot in Florida for six years.
Mr. Gephardt, the former House minority leader, is a safe choice. Charlie Cook of National Journal notes that Missouri is the most evenly divided state in the union; it is also the country's most reliable bellwether, having gone with the victor in every presidential election since 1956. Mr. Gephardt's "presence of the ticket would most likely tip its 11 electoral votes," says Mr. Cook. His strong ties to unions could also help Mr. Kerry boost voter turnout in key industrial states such as Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Mr. Kerry may decide the way to shake up the race is to make a truly unconventional choice, as Walter Mondale tried to do when he picked Ms. Ferraro, the first-ever woman on a national ticket, in 1984. This year the equivalent choice to pick up the "in" demographic group would be New Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson, who is Latino.
READ MORE