Alternative Democratic VP Nominees: 2004.

[Westbrook 49]

Presidential Candidate: Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Who might have given John Kerry the edge to be competitive in 2004, to have not been shut out of the prototypical blue states? Or even have seriously challenged George Bush for the Presidency?

The vast majority of these people will be those who ran for President themselves, considered running, or declined to run after being asked, with maybe one or two ideas of who might have been a good or interesting option (Some of which are probably a little out there).

And apparently I'm making this a series.

 

[Paul V McNutt]

I don't think a different running mate will change much.

 

[Know Nothing]

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't pick Edwards. If I pretend I somehow don't know of the post-2004 personal issues of Edwards, then I would probably stick with him.

 

[DTanza]

General Wesley Clark, if only because it's always funny watching the Republican Party drop all it's support for war heroes the minute they don't agree with them.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Blanche Lincoln. After all, Kerry's a deep liberal, so we need a Blue Dog Democrat to balance the ticket. Thus Blanche Lincoln.

 

[drcynic]

Kerry had initially wanted McCain and then Gephardt. However, I think Clark would be a good bet for him.

 

[Gryphon]

John McCain. Barring him, Edwards was about the best choice he could have made; Clark, Gephardt, and Richardson might have been all right as well, but after that there's no clear order.

 

[serbrcq]

Clark would be perfect apart from the whole "nearly starting WWIII" thing.

 

[Tony]

Anyone but John Edwards

 

[Andrew T]

I don't think a different running mate will change much.

Agreed. 2004 was a base turnout election, and it's hard to imagine any VP pick that will make up for the 120,000 votes Kerry needs in Ohio to win. (The other three closest Bush states -- Iowa, New Mexico, and Nevada -- only add up to 17 EVs, which isn't enough for Kerry to win.)

Among the candidates above, I think Gephardt is probably the best fit with the blue-collar Ohioans that Kerry would have needed to bring to the polls, but I don't think it would be enough.

You know what would have been enough? Kerry not taking off the month of August and maybe responding to the Swift Boat ads.

 

[Westbrook 49]

BTW, I screwed up the poll, so if you wouldn't mind posting your vote after you've voted, I'd appreciate it.

 

[terrellk]

I'm becoming that guy who's voting for Evan Bayh every single time. Somebody help me.

And not that you can add everyone, but I've been thinking lately about how unconventional VP choices have been the past two cycles, particularly for Republicans. Maybe Kerry could have started this sooner? Like what if he picked Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2004? Think about it: he voted against the resolution for war in Iraq, is pretty unabashedly liberal and is from Ohio to boot. I know it didn't work out with Ryan, but I think Brown on the ticket almost certainly gives you the 120,000 vote swing Kerry needs to win the presidency.

 

[TRH]

Out of curiosity, why isn't Howard Dean on the list? Not exactly a fan, but he was definitely significant enough to warrant inclusion on the poll.

As for me, I think I'd go with Wesley Clark, but the 2004 Democratic field just wasn't that impressive. Maybe that's another reason so many presidents win re-election; they rarely face aggressive challengers.

 

[Westbrook 49]

Out of curiosity, why isn't Howard Dean on the list? Not exactly a fan, but he was definitely significant enough to warrant inclusion on the poll.

As for me, I think I'd go with Wesley Clark, but the 2004 Democratic field just wasn't that impressive. Maybe that's another reason so many presidents win re-election; they rarely face aggressive challengers.

I was keeping to a hard 10 limit for candidates, and Dean would have pushed that over. Sorry.

As for why....Dean was too vulnerable (Especially in light of the Scream) to be VP, likely too liberal as well. Can you imagine what the Bush-Cheney team would have done with a Kerry-Dean ticket? The wealthy, French-speaking flip-flopper and the possibly unstable liberal whackjob? Game over.

What I was trying to do here was produce a number of potential interesting or viable candidates that would have given Kerry an advantage, mixing the standard with some out of the box. Dean was considered, but I ultimately decided against him, along with Kucinich, Carol Moseley Braun and a few others.