So, I haven't been paying attention to much outside my home other than Olympics lately, but an email from Dante got my wheels turning: "Just curious: what would your reax be if Hillary is the veep?"
The Veepstakes! I usually don't play but something has stuck in my mind. What would my reaction be?
Two months or even two weeks ago I might have said "please, gods, say NO!!" But I found myself not doing that this time. You see, I just came back from a week's vacation with the north-country side of the family, half Republicans, and all completely non-informed (by my standards). They read the Union Leader and watch the evening news, sometimes Fox, and that's how they form all of their opinions. They take the soundbites and commercials as gospel truth, and never wait around for the retractions or corrections. No internet or email, no blogs or books, no Sunday morning talking heads even. No intelligent conversation and certainly no fact-checking. Seeing the world through their eyes makes me see the campaign so differently. Vacationing with them left me exhausted and discouraged. (But we did have some great beach weather, thank goodness.).
Anyhow...So maybe HRC as a VP could appeal to this type of white rural voter? There are certainly plenty of them. They are the type that see Obama as a foreign policy rookie and weak on defense. And they only know one fact about McCain: his military record.
Richardson sure wouldn't appeal to them. Hillary's vote on the war wouldn't be a liability here.
Of the other contenders: Obama wouldn't dare pick another woman, I don't think. That would be in very bad taste. And what if McCain picks a female. Yikes...Can you just hear the Clintonistas threatening to jump ship? Biden can be too much of a loose cannon (though that's why I like him so much). I know nothing about Bayh, sorry.
I'm guessing, like everyone else, that the location of the announcement (Springfield IL) holds a big clue. Sure, Obama keeps saying "he" when referring to his VP pick, but could he be playing the media?? HRC was born in Chicago and grew up in Park Ridge IL--nowhere near Springfield really, but the state capital. Oh, who knows. I certainly can't pretend to have any idea. I just love the guessing and debating. The anticipation. It's a good distraction.
We'll all know soon enough.
