Posted by
Steve on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 10:32:55 AM
The word is that Barack Obama will be announcing his Vice-Presidential nomination very soon. Many people say it is to blunt the scuttlebutt that he did very poorly in the “debate” at the Saddleback Church. Well, he did do very poorly in the “debate” because he does not really want the American public to know where he stands on those issues.
Abortion is one issue that Obama probably wishes would not be brought up this campaign season. When the issue came up to ban partial-birth abortions, he was the only State Senator in Illinois that voted against the measure. In fact, he was even in favor of a bill that would have allowed doctors to kill babies born alive after an abortion. That is a position that even NARAL would not take. NARAL would like abortion available for the 9 months of pregnancy, but even they would not advocate killing a baby born alive. If abortion becomes a hot topic in the discussions, Obama’s position on abortion in Illinois will come out and many people will walk over broken glass to vote against him.
During the “debate” Barack was asked when a baby obtains rights. This is another way of saying, when does life begin. Obama said that it “was above my pay grade” to make that decision. That is hiding from the question. Everyone who has ever been pregnant or known someone who has been pregnant has asked that question. Everyone who has asked the question has come up with their own answer. The fact that he will not tell us what his answer is, is very telling.
With Obama now ready to announce his choice as his nominee for Vice-President, we get a glimpse of what he sees as his weakness. The three people mentioned as his selections are: Evan Bayh of Indiana, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Evan Bayh of Indiana would put Indiana in play for the Democrats. Indiana is normally a Republican state and has been since the dawn of creation. Selecting Evan Bayh would give the Democrats a chance to capture the electoral votes from Indiana. Evan Bayh would also give the ticket some foreign policy experience. Senator Bayh has been on the foreign relations committee for years. His big drawback is that he is extremely boring. He does not add much to the ticket except for foreign policy experience and a chance to pick up Indiana.
John Kerry from Massachusetts is the former Presidential nominee of the Democrat party. As such, he has been vetted. Everything that could be thrown against the wall against John Kerry has been thrown against the wall and so there would be no surprises. John Kerry would also give the ticket some foreign policy credibility. The problem with John Kerry is that he would not add any additional states like the other two candidates. He did get the most votes ever for a losing Presidential candidate. There was a lot of energy for his campaign and that may help this ticket.
Tim Kaine of Virginia is the Governor of Virginia. He has only been Governor of Virginia for a short time, but that gives him some executive experience which all of the other choices lack. He does not bring any foreign policy experience. He would put Virginia in play for the Democrats. It is a more valuable prize than Indiana. Selecting Tim Kaine would indicate that Obama thinks that executive experience is more important than foreign policy experience to help the ticket. It would also be an indication that he thinks Virginia is more important than Indiana.
Who would be the best one for him to pick? That is a good question and one there are numerous possibilities to look at. Selecting John Kerry would allow the Swift Boat Veterans to come out and hammer on him for his lies about his military service. John Kerry and the Democrats still think that Swiftboating means that someone lies about your record. Swiftboating means that someone is telling the truth about your record.
Selecting Evan Bayh would indicate that Obama thinks that foreign policy is the most important issue. It would also mean that two Senators would run on the same ticket. That pairing has never won the Presidency in the entire period of selecting Presidents.
Selecting Tim Kaine would indicate that Obama thinks executive experience is the most important. The ticket could be hammered as incompetents when it comes to foreign policy.
It really does not matter who Obama picks as his running mate. Nobody adds enough to the ticket to get rid of his negatives. That is his real problem. The only person that might be able to balance out Obama’s negatives would be Newt Gingrich and that ain’t gonna happen.