| The Blogging Caesar has decided that John Kerry will pick Bill Richardson as his running mate in the general election this year.
There are several reasons. I list them here in no particular order.
New Mexico provided Gore the smallest margin of victory of any state in 2000. Richardson on the ticket makes New Mexico very difficult for the GOP.
As a Hispanic, Richardson's influence will stretch beyond his home state. In a close race, he could make the difference in Arizona, Florida, and
Nevada. He might even make Rove and Co. sweat in Colorado and Louisiana. No other contender can match the potential he has to win electoral votes.
Richardson was a member of Bill Clinton's cabinet. As such, he injects just enough Clintonian flavor to increase interest among
African-Americans without inciting the Clinton- haters.
He is experienced, yet he does not come across as a Washington insider.
He is articulate and poised without being overshadowing, as in overshadowing Kerry.
In short, Bill Richardson has many strengths and very few, if any, discernable weaknesses. He has significant upside potential and practically no downside.
He is the best choice for John Kerry's running mate, and the Senator will agree.
I will post an update sometime in the near future discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the other contenders. For now, I'm posting the results
of the poll conducted yesterday and today on this site. There were lots of very insightful comments and persuasive reasons for choosing one of several
possible candidates. Some gave me brief cause to question my pick. However, I will stand by my decree.
Drumroll please....
1. Richard Gephardt 9 votes, 29.0%
2. Bill Richardson 6 votes, 19.4%
3. John Edwards 4 votes, 12.9%
4. Evan Bayh 3 votes, 9.7%
5 (tie). Bill Nelson and Hillary Clinton 2 votes, 6.5%
7 (tie). Max Cleland, Bob Graham, Dennis Kucinich,
Kathleen Sebelius, Tom Vilsack 1 vote, 3.2%
posted by Scott Elliott at 11:05pm 03/04/04 ::
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