Stories related to: vice president

Joe Biden, the Delaware senator who sputtered out of the primaries in Iowa, may be the ideal VP for Barack Obama, writes Walter Shapiro in Slate . The 65-year-old chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee has international policy cred, a son heading to Iraq, a pull with Catholic voters, a "just-plain-Joe political style," and a compelling personal story—his wife and daughter died in a car crash in 1972. More »

Barack Obama and John McCain must do more than pick VP candidates—they have to time the announcements carefully, a key tactical move in a busy summer, the New York Times reports. Two national conventions, the Beijing Olympics, and Obama's Aug. 4 birthday all help or hinder the timing, but it appears that Obama, with a convention closer to the games, faces the harder choice. More »

Nancy Pelosi suggested an unlikely vice-presidential candidate for Barack Obama this week, and got Politico's editors thinking—who are the best longshot candidates for both parties? They called up political analysts and drummed up seven names that are "unconventional" but "reasonably viable." Bill Gates topped the list for his business smarts, something John McCain needs—but Gates apparently leans Democrat these days. More »

John McCain's best choice for running mate may be a familiar face in the vice presidential slot—Joe Lieberman. The independent Connecticut senator would be the "first Jewish, party-crossing, second-time-around VP nominee in American history," and could push McCain toward the center just enough to attract valuable conservative Democrats, writes Walter Shapiro in Salon . More »

Republican maverick Chuck Hagel is being bruted as a possible running mate for Barack Obama, and it's a tempting fantasy. He's a Vietnam vet with abundant foreign policy experience and a very public split with Bush on the Iraq war; having him on the ticket would also give serious cred to Obama's post-partisan message. But he “may be a more attractive candidate in theory than in reality,” Mike Madden writes on Salon. More »

Don’t be fooled into thinking Barack Obama's hiring of Hillary Clinton’s ex-campaign manager is a play for unity; insiders say it’s a signal Clinton is not the future VP nominee. One Clinton bundler called the move the “biggest f--- you I have ever seen in politics.” Patti Solis Doyle will be the VP nominee's chief of staff, and she and Clinton didn't part on good terms. More »

Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager and longtime loyalist Patti Solis Doyle will serve as chief of staff to Obama's eventual VP choice. This may mean that Clinton is unlikely to nab the veep spot, since Doyle—booted from Hillary's campaign—has not spoken to her since, Don Frederick blogs in the Los Angeles Times . More »

It’s a myth that running mates put a ticket over the top, former Bush speechwriter David Frum writes in the New Republic —so John McCain might as well just look to the future of the Republican Party. "Keep in mind that, when you choose, you may well be choosing a future leader of the party," Frum pleads, "a leader whose impact could well equal or exceed your own." More »

The logic for Hillary Clinton as Barack Obama's running mate is simple, writes Ed Kilgore for Salon: "Obama doesn't have any obvious alternative option that will please everyone, much less provide the political payoff of an Obama-Clinton ticket.” Kilgore notes that rank-and-file Democrats support the pairing and refutes a laundry list of anti-Clinton arguments. More »

Barack Obama has a plethora of reasons to reject Hillary Clinton as his running mate, Thomas Schaller writes in Salon, but the most important is consistency: "Obama's decision to cast himself as a fresh alternative to both the Bushes and the Clintons is reason enough for him to choose somebody other than Hillary." Schaller lays out four anti-Clinton arguments and concludes by urging Obama to move quickly. More »

The timing is finally right for Sam Nunn to be installed on a Democratic presidential ticket, Michael Crowley asserts in the New Republic . The former senator from Georgia—bandied about as a potential VP in  ’88, ’92, 2000 and 2004—is “tailor-made for the veepstakes,” Crowley writes, because he's got a big resume and a small ego. This year, he's the perfect choice. More »

Dear wannabe running mates, here’s how to campaign for the No. 2 job, per Mark Halperin in Time : DO: Prove you can be an attack dog while maintaining “eloquence.” Suck up to Michelle/Cindy. They’ll have the final say before the final say. Notify the campaign of every appearance you plan to make. Prove you’ve got something the future nominee needs. More »

Democratic strategist James Carville thinks Barack Obama should consider someone with a little experience for the vice presidency: like, say, former VP Al Gore. Carville told CNN that choosing the Nobel Peace Prize-winner would drive home the message that America is serious about a new energy policy. A third term would make Gore the longest-serving veep in history, but he's said he'll only run for top spot. More »

Some Minnesota lawmakers are scratching their heads over their governor’s unusual veto of a resolution backing renewed trade relations with Cuba, but Matt Snyders writes in City Pages that Tim Pawlenty’s move may be a play to buddy up to John McCain. Pawlenty's been mentioned as a possible VP, but McCain could ill afford to have anyone on the ticket who wants to end the embargo—even if it would help the state's farmers. More »

Analysts were surprised to see the name of retired general James Jones on Barack Obama's vice-presidential shortlist yesterday, but Noam Scheiber, in the New Republic thinks he knows what the former NATO commander was doing there. Per Bob Woodward’s most recent book, Scheiber notes Jones was so put off by Donald Rumsfeld he refused to interview for the Joint Chiefs chairmanship. More »

A member of Barack Obama’s VP selection team who has drawn a firestorm of criticism this week is stepping down from his post, CNN reports. “Jim [Johnson] did not want to distract in any way from the very important task of gathering information about my vice presidential nominee, so he has made a decision to step aside that I accept,” Obama said in a statement. More »

Barack Obama’s VP selection team had a busy couple of days on Capitol Hill, talking up possible running mates with legislators. A new name in the mix is that of retired Gen. James Jones, MSNBC reports. Joe Biden and Ohio governor Ted Strickland also came under scrutiny; Bill Richardson, Janet Napolitano, Mike Bloomberg, and Chuck Hagel did not.. More »

Ed Rendell's incredible bluntness and honesty are worth celebrating, but those same qualities make the Pennsylvania governor unacceptable as a Democratic vice presidential candidate, Buzz Bissinger writes in the New Republic. Pairing him with Barack Obama might be “a fascinating marriage of the idealist and the schmoozing fixer,” but Rendell’s style is way beyond the pale of national politics. More »

Among Barack Obama's potential running mates, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius brings a history of standing up to the Bush White House and credibility for having won over a historically Republican state, Sam Stein writes in the Huffington Post. "Kansans of all political stripes loved" Sebelius' blasting of Bush's war policy when it left the state without military reserves needed to pick up after 2007 tornadoes. More »

Fed up with a focus on local ties and attractiveness in vice presidential selection coverage, Mark Halperin of Time lists the qualifications most under- and -overvalued by the media. Among other things, don't overlook: A candidate ready to be president from Day One. A candidate trusted and liked by the nominee. A candidate trusted and liked by the nominee's wife. More »