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John Kerry has put himself in the position of being able to sit back and wait to pick the best VP candidate to help him win the election.

The question for debate is:

In light of the present political climate (June 2004), who is the person that will most help John Kerry win the 2004 election and why would that person swing the election in Kerry's favor?

You can pick anyone you would like from the often discussed prospects to viable candidates who are not often discussed.

John Edwards, for a lot of reasons, would probably be the most effective Vice Presidential candidate.

He comes from the labor class in the South, which would offset well John Kerry's New England patrician background. That will help with the Southern and blue collar vote.

Edwards is a charismatic and eloquent speaker who has proven that he is able to garner votes. He was the most positive of the Democratic candidates and would probably do well reconciling factions within the party.

My dark horse choice is John Lewis.

I think he has an impeccable resume. He was with MLK Jr. as an early civil rights leader, he helped keep the freedom rides going, he led the SNCC in its self-defined mission of non-violence, and was pushed aside while holding those beliefs.
The SNCC then radicalized and was led by black power advocates Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown in subsequent years.

He is a southerner. Edwards is a lawyer and I think the republicans would love to make the election in part about tort reform and the ills of unchecked jury awards. Clark is a general, and I think the Republicans would love the issue of foreign policy to dominate the election. (Support W and support our troops)

He is a prominent Civil Rights leader. This is an area where the democratic party is seen as having a more favorable position on, a better established history.

He would be the first African-American on a presidential ticket. This would be a Ferraro type nomination, but I think it would re-energize the African American vote and be just desserts for their strength of support for the national democratic tickets.

He would not be leaving a Senate seat and his district seat seems solidly democratic. I say, let's draft John Lewis.

I'm still leaning towards Wes Clark, he was my choice for president anyway. I also like the thought of Senator Evan Bayh, although I've only heard him mentioned once or twice, I really like his soft spoken way and I think he's good looking - that's what American's are really interested in anyway...or so it sometimes seems.

That is an excellent suggestion Eeyore. I have to admit, I'm not particularly keyed up about any of the potential candidates for Vice President. But after reading Lewis' resume, I'm pretty impressed.

Now I wonder if there is anything we can actually do about it?

How much longer till he announces his choice? I wish he would hurry up...I don't care much for Kerry and I'd like to have someone on the ticket to root for.

I think Edwards is the best choice. I really don't worry about his former occupation. Cheney was the CEO of an oil company, not exactly the most respected vocation around. For one thing Edwards is the most popular choice. Looking at the polls Edwards is consistently picked as the best vice presidential running mate for Kerry. One poll I saw even said 5% more people would vote for Kerry if his running mate was Edwards as opposed to Gephardt and 7% more as opposed to Clark. In such a close election that could be a deciding factor. I also think there's a strong possibility Edwards could bring in North Carolina. A Mason-Dixon poll there said Edwards would take Kerry from 7% down to 1% down. Looking down the road if Kerry were to win I also think Edwards is the best choice. Unlike Vilsack, Gephardt and Clark he's shown he can be sucessful in a national campaign. Although Kerry won, Edwards showed national appeal. That's something you need to have since the vice presidential candidate will be the frontrunner in any new democratic nomination campaign. You don't want something like Gephardt who has done terribly running for president before becoming vice president winning the nomination and repeating 2000. Edwards avoids that since he's a strong national candidate without being vice-president.

Hillary!!![COLOR=red][I]Danya:


I wouldn't worry Danya, I think he'll announce who is the #2 person at the end of July just before the convention.

Just out from Drudge- insider says it'sHillary!!!!

Edwards... for reasons posted above plus the obvious reason that he was the second most popular candidate in the primary.

With the reasons listed above, the obvious choice will be John Edwards, but think John McCain would be just as good, if not better than Edwards. President Bush is portraying Kerry as the most liberal member of the senate, so a republican running mate would significantly help Kerrys campaign with picking up undecided voters and possibly moderate republicans.

I think John Edwards was a good VP choice. Bush has potrayed Kerry as a huge liberal, which will not help him (Kerry) among moderate voters. However, Edwards is a moderate democrat (with social conserative views), which will definetly help swing the critical moderate vote. In addition, Edwards is charasimatic (sp?). That should help as well.