Better Kerry Running Mate

Who ever said Harold Ford Jr. This is just my opinion. He is a horrible arrogant jerk.

But as fact, the following:

In no way was Tennesse a swing state in 2004. BTW, Harold Ford Jr. Was crushed in his bid for the Senate. I mean destroyed.

He came from a horribly corrupt family. Both his father and uncle were involved in bad scandles.

As far as Ohio, if it devolved into a Florida a la 2000. The Ohio Sec of State (Ken Blackwell?) Was a giant partisan Republican. He would have just a smarter Katherine Harris. I thought Jennifer Granholm has national ambitions. But hey, a party would never pick a female Gov who is inexperienced right? See VP Palin.
 
Who ever said Harold Ford Jr. This is just my opinion. He is a horrible arrogant jerk.

But as fact, the following:

In no way was Tennesse a swing state in 2004. BTW, Harold Ford Jr. Was crushed in his bid for the Senate. I mean destroyed.

He came from a horribly corrupt family. Both his father and uncle were involved in bad scandles.

As far as Ohio, if it devolved into a Florida a la 2000. The Ohio Sec of State (Ken Blackwell?) Was a giant partisan Republican. He would have just a smarter Katherine Harris. I thought Jennifer Granholm has national ambitions. But hey, a party would never pick a female Gov who is inexperienced right? See VP Palin.

Ford only lost in 2006 by 3 points (51-48). But I agree he would have been a poor pick, not to mention ineligible.

Granholm was born in Canada (to Canadian parents). The Ohio Democratic Party was in shambles in 2004 and had no statewide elected officials. Maybe Ted Strickland - then a congressman - could have been an effective choice.

Otherwise, Mary Landrieu could have been a good pick, but her record might have been too right-leaning for the national party (she voted for the Iraq War and for the Bush tax cuts and of course had big ties to the oil and gas industries).

Gephardt might have been a solid, if uninspiring, pick - might have been able to flip Missouri or at least make it closer, though that wouldn't have been enough on its own. Maybe Mark Warner, then VA-governor?
 
Gephardt might have been a solid, if uninspiring, pick - might have been able to flip Missouri or at least make it closer, though that wouldn't have been enough on its own. Maybe Mark Warner, then VA-governor?
As a midwesterner, he would probably help out in Ohio. Other possible midwestern choices include Evan Bayh (though he may have to give up his Senate seat), Dick Durbin, or Tom Vilsack.
 
Thank you for the info on Granholm. Obviously, my ignorance of MI politics shows. I have just seen her as a talking head. Since she is Hillary's head cheerleader.

As to Ford, the race was not as close as the numbers suggest. After all he ran against another Democrat in Bob Corker. Had the Democrat's put a better person they would have won that seat. I know his age, I was speaking in hypotheticals.
 
Sam Nunn might be viable if Kerry wants to appear more focused on Defense and Foreign policy. I don't know how well he would play with the base though.
 
Of course you couldn't really know it beforehand, but all Kerry had to do to win in 2004 was to tip the scales in Ohio. I'm not sure if there are any real good candidates from Ohio to help him accomplish this. John Glenn is 83 years old in 2004, so maybe Ted Strickland?

If Kerry wins Ohio and everything else goes as historically, John Kerry is elected president.

Was there a plausable person liked to Ohio?

How about Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich?
Kucinich has criticized the foreign policy of incumbent President Bush, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq and what he perceives as growing American hostility towards Iran. He has always voted against funding it.
 
I disagree that John Edwards was a good VP candidate. He was not. There's a book out there that shows the relationship between Edwards & Kerry and how frustrated the Kerry campaign got with Edwards and his inability to become the attack dog of the ticket, which is generally reserved for the running-mate. There was an impression around the campaign that Edwards was making a name for himself so that he could run in four years if the ticket lost. So, you could assume he was in it just for himself.

Edwards also killed momentum heading out of the first debate with his debate against Dick Cheney. I know people like to toss out that VP debates have little impact on the election, but Bush had an awful, awful first debate and it allowed Kerry an opening - as the polls closed very quickly. But Cheney eviscerated Edwards in the VP debate, similarly to what Biden did to Ryan (again, with similar results - the debate blunted momentum and eased the bleeding for Obama-Biden) and it gave the President new footing heading into the final two debates (not as dominant as Obama's performance over Romney in the other two debates, but good enough to sustain a very narrow lead).

I think the VP debate is where things shifted, again, in Bush's favor. Prior to it, his polls were sinking badly and they reversed course after the debate. It was also a very heavily watched debate, as more people actually tuned into the 2004 vice-presidential debate than any of the presidential debates from four years prior.

Moreover, Edwards literally brought no electoral votes into play. He was supposed to help in the South and that never materialized. In fact, Kerry lost North Carolina by a landslide.
 
As far as Ohio, if it devolved into a Florida a la 2000. The Ohio Sec of State (Ken Blackwell?) Was a giant partisan Republican. He would have just a smarter Katherine Harris. I thought Jennifer Granholm has national ambitions. But hey, a party would never pick a female Gov who is inexperienced right? See VP Palin.

Actually, now that you mention Ken Blackwell....

Blackwell's bid to become Governor of Ohio in 2006 was pretty much destroyed thanks to the Coingate scandal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coingate_scandal
Perhaps if the scandal broke a year earlier, John Kerry would have won Ohio regardless of who Kerry's running mate is.

But to get back on topic, there are no strong democratic candidates from Ohio in 2004. Ted Strickland was still in the House of Representatives back then, but I can't think of anyone else who could have given the Democrats the edge in Ohio.
 
Actually, now that you mention Ken Blackwell....

Blackwell's bid to become Governor of Ohio in 2006 was pretty much destroyed thanks to the Coingate scandal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coingate_scandal
Perhaps if the scandal broke a year earlier, John Kerry would have won Ohio regardless of who Kerry's running mate is.

But to get back on topic, there are no strong democratic candidates from Ohio in 2004. Ted Strickland was still in the House of Representatives back then, but I can't think of anyone else who could have given the Democrats the edge in Ohio.

Marcy Kaptur was a potentiality IIRC.
 
I know Bob Corker is a Republican. He was at my wedding
My wife's father was important in Chattanooga. I was calling a RINO. I feel my, they to doind


k
 
I know Bob Corker is a Republican. He was at my wedding
My wife's father was important in Chattanooga. I was calling a RINO. I feel my, they to doind


k
 
How about Wesley Clark? He could counterbalance those veterans that "served with John Kerry" that came on television and with his military experience, present a better Iraq and War on Terror Strategy than the Bush Administration. Representing Arkansas, he could also help in the South.
 

DTanza

Banned
How about Wesley Clark? He could counterbalance those veterans that "served with John Kerry" that came on television and with his military experience, present a better Iraq and War on Terror Strategy than the Bush Administration. Representing Arkansas, he could also help in the South.

The "nearly started WW3" thing might not help turn out people who were opposed to Bush's foreign policy.
 
The "nearly started WW3" thing might not help turn out people who were opposed to Bush's foreign policy.

Yet they went for a nominee whose defense for opposing the war was essentially that it was not being paid for. Remember, Senator Kerry voted for it before he voted against it. That said, there are real issues with Clark, but none which make him impossible, and the press would cover over the Kosovo issues in much the same way that the press has been disinterested in the way the Obama administration ignored the "Pottery Barn Rule" with the Libyan misadventure.

The best possible running mate for Kerry would be Bob Graham. Yes, they are both old white men, but Graham has strong national defense credentials, respect and appeal in the middle, and he's from Florida, a winnable state where Kerry could use an edge.
 
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