Handicapping the Veepstakes

Posted by Chris Bowers, Open Left at 11:02 AM on May 13, 2008.

The Hill has a cool story up, where they managed to get 97 of the 100 Senators to say whether or not they would accept the vice-president spot. Here is the question all of the Senators were asked:

The Hill asked all 97 senators who are not running for president the same question: "If you were asked, would you accept an offer to be the VP nominee?"

Looking only at the Democratic responses, here are my interpretations of the answers:

• Yes: Bayh (IN), Biden (DE), Cardin (MD), Cantwell (WA), Carper (DE), Dodd (CT), Dorgan (NC), Feinstein (CA), Lautenberg (NJ), Mikulski (MD), Murray (WA), Salazar (CO), Stabenow (MI)
• Unclear: Bingaman (NM), Casey (PA), Feingold (WI), Kennedy (MA), Kerry (MA), Landrieu (LA), Levin (MI), Lincoln (AR), Menendez (NJ), Nelson (FL), Reid (NV), Tester (MT), Wyden (OR)

• No: Akaka (HI), Baucus (MT), Boxer (CA), Brown (OH), Byrd (WV), Conrad (ND), Durbin (IL), Harkin (IA), Inoyue (HI), Johnson (SD), Kohl (WI), Leahy (VT), McCaskill (MO), Nelson (NE), Pryor (AR), Reed (RI), Rockerfeller (WV), Schumer (NY), Webb (VA), Whitehouse (RI)

The "no" responses cross off some pretty strong and popular choices, including Sherrod Brown, Kent Conrad, and Jim Webb (and yes, they are all really clear and strong "no's." The unclear answers don't really matter that much, because none of them really have any chance of being asked (I think). Among the "yes" answers, Cardin, Lautenberg, Mikulski, Murray and Stabenow meet the "reinforcement" criteria by being against the war before it began. Of those choices, Murray is the strongest choice by a long way. She even has a similar background to Obama, working as both a teacher and a citizen activist before running for office. I could dig Patty Murray as VP.

Among the Democrats, the most annoying responses came from Ron Wyden and Blanche Lincoln. Here is Lincoln:

It's a hypothetical I don't need to answer.

Well, excuuuusssee someone for asking. Here is Wyden, going all the way to 11:

"I have a unique perspective on this. I am the only senator to have announced I am not running for president because there should be someone here to serve as the Senate's designated driver. I intend to stay in that position. The Senate needs a designated driver to stay behind and work on healthcare."

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