Running Mate...

So my boy, Obama, is supposed to pick his running mate soon. I can't remember ever caring so much, or finding this particular selection as important as it is now. In 04 I was all about John Edwards in the primary and when he lost, the one thing that made me really want John Kerry as president was that J.E. was his running mate. In retrospect, I guess it's a good thing the Democrats didn't have another adulterer in the White House.

This election seems like a toss up though. It seems like there are people from both parties going over to the other side. People who liked Hillary might vote for McCain and people who hate Bush might be voting for Obama. I guess that's why his running mate is so important. It really will capture the votes that he needs to win some swing states. I think going with someone from Ohio or Pennsylvania would be a smart move if he thought it was going to come down to Ohio. The Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine, seems to be getting quite a bit of attention, but I don't know if he's my guy. I think he's got what Obama needs as far as getting a more conservative vote, or getting some of the Hillary votes that are going to McCain but I don't think he should be the choice.

If it were up to me, I'd be choosing between Gov. Richardson of New Mexico and Sen. Biden from Delaware, both of whom were presidential candidates. I know there hasn't been much mention of Richardson in VP talks but I think they are both great choices even though they have very opposing opinions on many things. I think Richardson would be the best for "change" and would help to usher in the new generation that Obama (hopefully not rhetorically) talks about all the time. He's very pro-alternative energy. Very pro-bringing-home-the-troops. Essentially he's a really smart left wing guy who isn't some crazy radical. On the other hand I think Biden brings in a little bit of reality to Sen. Obama's "fairytale." Biden is a guy who's been around for a long time and I think he is a really good person to bring in to counter all of McCain's "war experience." Biden knows his stuff and has really good foreign policy ideas as far as what to do in Darfur and about getting out of Iraq as far as energy dependancy goes.

I guess in a perfect world Richardson would be VP and Biden would be some sort of official or Secretary of State. But chances are that won't happen. To be honest, I think it's tough enough trying to elect Obama without adding a Latino to the ticket in Richardson. Unfortunately this country is still filled with people who would vote against either of them or both of them just because of their name or ethnicity. It boggles my mind that the number of people who believe Obama is a Muslim is actually increasing.

Anyways, we'll find out soon enough I suppose. Just wanted to put my two cents in before an announcement was made. As always, go big.

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - just an fyi, i get a lot of the pics I post here from the nytimes as it's my homepage and occasionally I'll see something that'll make me want to blog or that I've been meaning to talk about. just wanted to mention that in case people thought I was stealing topics or thoughts from there.