big of a deal.  I doubt that would kill his chances.

Oh, nobody cares about that anymore.  It didn't even come up this year when he was running himself.

Not specifically as I recall, but he may have.  Then again, they always say that.

IIRC, he stated he really isn't interested, but would have no choice but to accept if offered the position.

I asked my grandmother if she would vote for Obama. She had said no before but maybe now, depending on who he runs with. I got the impression that she wanted Clinton (who she voted for in the primary), but I imagine Biden is another choice that could sway her. Clark could work as well.

Obama's worst performance against McCain is among older voters. As much as I do not like Biden (establishment hawk) he may be the kind of choice, along with perhaps Clark, that could move the over 60 block.

Nah, they're all going to vote for Kim Campbell instead.  Eh? :)

Well, obviously that was shorthand for the following:

"Hillary Clinton, who received nearly 18 million votes in the primary, and thus has a very large base of support.  Though the majority of those 18 million will vote for Obama anyway, a considerable number of them will not vote for Obama unless Hillary is on the ticket, and another considerable number might vote for him but will not work for him or donate to him unless Hillary is on the ticket, so adding Hillary Clinton to the ticket has certain advantages that adding other Northeastern Senators does not."

And, no, 99% of Hillary Clinton supporters in the primary will not vote for Obama no matter who his VP choice is.  I would say that you have underestimated those who will not vote for him by a factor of at least 10, and more likely 15 to 30.

Huh?  Your reply doesn't make any sense.

"Yes, but that would never happen.  Why?  For the same reason that it would be a slap in the face: Harold Ford is not in any way Vice Presidential material."

Harold Ford is as VP-materialish as Sebelius (perhaps moreso).

Hillary Clinton is certainly MORE than vicepresidential material. She's Presidential material if there ever was someone qualified to do the job.

(What is Sebelius's experience on the national scene that would help balance the ticket? Uh, none. That's a pretty big disqualifier.)

Choosing her is the only smart move.

Hillary Clinton is overqualified for the job and Obama should consider himself lucky to have her.

I don't agree at all.  With the non-stop coverage that Obama gets, his veep choice is going to make headlines for at least a week,(depending on the timing), no matter who he chooses.  If he picks Hillary, it'll be news for 2 weeks.

But, you have a point about Clark.  Candidates have a habit of picking people who aren't even are the radar, and about whom nobvody is speculating.

Actually, the teaser headline was "Who is Obama's new VP pick" or something like that.  So people self selected to read the article based on that question.

They then decided to vote, based on the content of the article, which was Obama being interested in Ann Veneman.  My guess is that the 100,000 or so that voted were expressing an opinion on picking a Republican VP.  They cared enough to hit the button and say no to Veneman  80%.  

Once you've voted on the first poll question, you'll usually vote on the second poll question (and the number of respondents here is about the same).

Any poll where you are given the number of voters tells you one thing for sure.

Minimum, 65,000 people would have their vote affected by choice of VP.

In most years, people really don't give a flying floop who the VP is.  Heck Bush I won with Quayle.  Nixon won with Agnew.  

So it's striking the level of interest here.  I would expect 10% to be a large number caring about the VP pick.  

without Cheney on the ticket? I don't think so! Cheney gave Bush gravitas and reassured the country in 2000

I am dealing with reality. My own mother, who didn't even smoke, died of cancer at age 49. It happens. Obama is a longtime smoker, which increases the risk.

I don't want any Republican in line to inherit the presidency. Period.

Nonsense. Dmd was not expressing a death wish for Obama. If I point out that riding a motorcycle without a helmet is risky, does that mean I want helmetless riders to get brain injuries? That is just illogical, as is the conclusion you jumped to with Dmd's post.

Unscientific AOL polls aside, I believe that the VP choices ARE more important this time around. McCain's melanoma history, Obama's cancer risk, the high ratio of gun ownership in the neo-nazi/KKK community -- like it or not, those are risk factors that make it more likely that a VP will be called upon to take the reins.

OK, now that's just ridiculous.  If you really think thaty was a death wish, then I doubt there's any hope for you at all.  Uprating that comment.

Your comment is absurd.  I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for stupidity on a Democratic blog.

True, if you're into that sort of thing.  That kind of clear-eyed, bodily symmetry, manly.... brb

Deval Patrick and David Paterson are both black and both governors.

However, it's still pretty pathetic that this country has only two black governors, one of whom wasn't elected to the office, and one black Senator (who won't be a Senator come January 20, 2009).

to picking Hillary. In the original post I said I would favor Clark.

I do think there's a downside to picking someone who would alienate those who preferred Hillary. And I think that choosing a woman other than Hillary would be viewed as a slap in the face by many of her supporters.

If Obama doesn't want Hillary on the ticket, and he seems not to, he should pick someone close to the Clintons to unify the party. And not someone like Bayh or Bill Nelson, who are too conservative and would cause us to lose a Senate seat.

He's not only finished THIS cycle, but for good. Horsing around with some woman out in LA, while your two small children and cancer-ridden wife are back home is, let's face it, despicable. And I liked Edwards...actually went to his rally when he came here to Tucson.

I heard Lawrence O'Donnell on the tube earlier this week. He's an ardent Obama supporter, and an MSNBC analyst who describes himself as a "European Socialist". He stated that in his judgement, the Enquirer story represented "very solid reporting". At that point, I knew the jig was up.

And to be clear by at a hotel I mean physically at the HOTEL not her room.