tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post7106326947867546296..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Veepstakes ChatterJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-45537705826501030242012-06-21T13:47:49.067-05:002012-06-21T13:47:49.067-05:00Aren't they vetting candidates for Cabinet-lev...Aren't they vetting candidates for Cabinet-level offices (and even candidates for lower-level offices) pretty thoroughly these days? You've posted about that occasionally. I suppose there might be a difference between what people doing that kind of vetting look for, and what people on the campaign trail look for.Xenocrypthttp://xenocrypt.dailykos.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-2552637501653012792012-06-21T12:02:11.777-05:002012-06-21T12:02:11.777-05:00I think it will almost certainly be John Thune. He...I think it will almost certainly be John Thune. He hasn't run a national campaign, but he checks all the other boxes. The main strike against him seems to be that he voted for the bailout. But Romney's campaign strategy already calls for a whitewash of the entire financial crisis, so I don't think it would be much of an impediment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-31281413375883614502012-06-21T09:43:30.223-05:002012-06-21T09:43:30.223-05:00In terms of being a potential president, sure. But...In terms of being a potential president, sure. But in terms of exposing potential electoral vulnerabilities, only sort of.Jonathan Bernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-49075905038325976942012-06-21T09:21:32.242-05:002012-06-21T09:21:32.242-05:00Portman served 12 years in the House, and then had...Portman served 12 years in the House, and then had year long stints as the US Trade Rep and as OMB director, both Cabinet level posts. That's better than "sort of"; that's more like "heck of a resume".John McNultyhttp://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~jmcnultynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-22994217003443551522012-06-21T00:49:34.659-05:002012-06-21T00:49:34.659-05:00The only real criterion for a veep pick is whether...The only real criterion for a veep pick is whether the person is a plausible President. Nobody votes on the basis of the veep.<br /><br />The media should stop talking about this stupid issue. Nobody knows who Romney is going to pick, and once he picks the candidate, none of the speculation will matter.Dilan Esperhttp://www.twitter.com/dilanespernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-2526892757435217682012-06-20T15:50:17.271-05:002012-06-20T15:50:17.271-05:00If I were the presidential nominee, my main questi...If I were the presidential nominee, my main question for VP candidates would be, "How would you feel about spearheading my administration's campaign to abolish the vice presidency?"Jeffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-78192056145987830702012-06-20T14:57:08.290-05:002012-06-20T14:57:08.290-05:00It's remarkable how many bad VP picks there ha...It's remarkable how many bad VP picks there have been in recent years: Palin, Edwards, Lieberman, Quayle, Ferraro, Eagleton, and Agnew all look, in retrospect, to have been pretty horrible. There are as many bad ones as good ones.<br /><br />I think Cheney was terrible for the country, but I don't think he was any kind of political liability.TNhttp://www.debris-slide.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-42191971163360604952012-06-20T12:50:36.776-05:002012-06-20T12:50:36.776-05:00I imagine anyone whose issues are massively disqua...I imagine anyone whose issues are massively disqualifying doesn't get on the list in the first place -- I can't imagine David Vitter being considered for VP by anyone, ever. Perhaps anyone with a skeleton of that caliber in their closet isn't going to make even the long list because they'd likely not be in a position to be on the long list in the first place.Chris Gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-17670901568476450312012-06-20T12:14:42.300-05:002012-06-20T12:14:42.300-05:00But, more to JB's point: the political science...But, more to JB's point: the political science research on vetting is extraordinarily thin. Our methods are just vastly inferior to those of the journalists on this front. We really don't have good, systematic data on who made the long list or the short list. We have anecdotes of questionable sourcing for a number of these (for example, Ridge and Lieberman were vetted and then rejected by party factions in 2008 has been reported on {sorry, don't have a link or good memory of the story}), but as far as I know, that's it from 2008. We don't have the "here was the full list, and here was the short list, and here's why they rejected X, Y or Z." Sigelman had a really fun piece on the veepstakes in the APSR back in the 90s, but it was all using media-based lists, so somewhat questionable.Matt Jarvisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-71202010999270119562012-06-20T11:43:05.943-05:002012-06-20T11:43:05.943-05:00"Well, apparently there's some question a..."Well, apparently there's some question about whether Edwards had plenty going on well before 2004."<br /><br />Being the words of Ms. Hunter.<br /><br />Not what we call a reliable witness. And certainly not available to the Kerry team in 04.charlienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-24214388377325115472012-06-20T11:24:01.601-05:002012-06-20T11:24:01.601-05:00Well, apparently there's some question about w...Well, apparently there's some question about whether Edwards had plenty going on well before 2004. You don't want someone who might implode if you win, either; Agnew was a disaster pick, even though it didn't hurt in either election.<br /><br />Agree on the last point. What I'm wondering is whether the kinds of vetting they do turns some of that unproven stuff into proven, or at least accurately distinguishes between rumors likely to be harmless and rumors that have a large risk of becoming costly.Jonathan Bernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-1420375839492150542012-06-20T10:54:32.313-05:002012-06-20T10:54:32.313-05:00Not for nothin', but as I understand things, E...Not for nothin', but as I understand things, Edwards' dirt didn't develop until '06, and wasn't a problem until he'd already been bounced in '08. So it's not like Kerry's team missed it; it wasn't there yet, and I think it's hard to argue that Edwards was a Palin-esque disaster pick.<br /><br />Same with Cheney, actually; yeah, the guy's an ass, but it's not like there was some impropriety that vetting could uncover. And I'd argue he helped Bush in 2000, at least.<br /><br />As for the rest, I suspect that that stuff is found at something before the "finalist" stage, and the campaigns simply deny the pols in question were ever serious candidates. Nonetheless, I remember a few things from '08- Richardson's supposed zipper problem, Clinton's problems with her husband's donors. Though, admittedly, that seems a lot like typical "open- and unproven- secrets" kinda stuff.Colbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14262426400735202537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-84608698314901536792012-06-20T10:52:46.606-05:002012-06-20T10:52:46.606-05:00Huckabee doesn't have good chemistry with Romn...Huckabee doesn't have good chemistry with Romney. Huckabee simply doesn't afford enough respect to individuals on account of their having amassed a big enough pile of cash. I doubt if Romney could trust him sufficiently to make him his successor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-13224468745157949102012-06-20T10:41:16.458-05:002012-06-20T10:41:16.458-05:00I thought about what you've had to say about H...I thought about what you've had to say about Huckabee this week as he decided to punch way below his weight by having a spat with Bristol Palin, of all people. Do you think he'll be seen as a viable candidate for, well, anything if he continues to drift toward full-on media personality mode?Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08924703967202920047noreply@blogger.com