Barack Obama Quietly Begins the VP Search

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It’s being reported that Senator Barack Obama has begun, very very quietly, looking at vice presidential possibilities. That said, Obama has made it crystal clear to those in his innermost of circles that the search is too be conducted under the radar, so not to come across as counting his chickens before they hatch in the eyes of Clinton supporters. Assisting Obama in the vetting process is former Senator Tom Daschle and James A. Johnson, who vetted potential VP nominees for numerous Democratic candidates including Sen. John Kerry back in 2004.

Potential ticket-mates, in no particular order, include:

Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA), Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ex-Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM), Ex-Sen. John Edwards, (D-NC), Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS), Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ), Sen. John Biden (D-DE), Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) ex-Rep. Tim Roemer (D-IN), Gov. Ted Strickland (D-OH) and others.

There are a couple major factors that will play a major part in Obama’s final decision. It is imperative that Senator Obama does not pick a running mate who appears (even in the slightest of ways) to contradict Obama’s unique and refreshing message, which subsequently got him to where he is now:

“several political imperatives confront Obama as he begins to think about his choice. One is that the candidates with whom he has bonded would not necessarily serve his political needs. Another is that if he chooses a Democrat from the party’s establishment, like Sens. Clinton, Dodd or Biden, he might undercut his argument that the establishment needs to go. If he chooses someone young and with a relative lack of executive experience, he opens the ticket to criticism that it is too green. If he chooses a Republican or a pro-life Democrat, he risks a major backlash from Democratic women as he tries to bring more of them to his side after the primary season ends. If he chooses someone young and flashy, he risks being upstaged. And while Obama discounts the experience argument, many of his advisers do not.”

So as you can see Obama has quite the tightrope to walk given the scenario he finds himself in, which is described above. Because of the seriousness of the situation Obama has already assigned a group of staffers the task of putting together a specialized team to assist in the Vice Presidential search, a group that will consist of a and a hand-full of Democrats closely aligned with the campaign. This panels first task will be too start putting together dossiers (based only on open source research, press clippings, and brief background bios.)

Your guess is as good as mine at this point in the race as too who in fact Obama will eventually select as a running mate. If I were a betting man I would have to put my money on the VP slot going to someone with a solid military background, and I say this only because “homeland security” is really the only issue Obama has a perceived weakness in. A VP candidate with a decorated military or foreign policy record, such as Jim Webb, or Sam Nunn would silence a lot of that criticism.

As far as the scenario in which he selects Hillary as his running mate, I would have to say that I really, really, don’t think it would be in his best interest. I think he can win over those Democrats who supporter her just as effectively with a number of the strong VP possibilities listed above. Hillary’s message was formulated throughout the primary too sharply contrast virtually everything Obama was saying. That said, I can honestly say that I would be able to live with an Obama/Hillary ticket, and would support it 100%, I just really don’t think it would be the ideal situation for Obama to get himself into.

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