Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.com
Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Democratic sources in Washington tell NewsMax.com that Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina is the most likely choice, though the selection has not been finalized.

Still, Democrats had hoped Republican John McCain would consider joining a fusion ticket headed by Kerry.

But recently McCain emphatically told Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” that he would not under any circumstances join his Capitol Hill friend on the Democratic ticket.

McCain’s unqualified “no, no and no” to Russert was meant to end the whirlwind of speculation about the titillating cross-party match-up that was fueled when he was asked earlier on ABC’s “Good Morning America” whether he would consider running with Kerry and replied, “Obviously, I would entertain it.”

But the desire for McCain is smart politics. A poll conducted by Synavote in March asked potential voters who they felt should become president if something happened to Kerry. McCain led the pack of nine Democrats with 15 percent. A close second was John Edwards with 14 percent.

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi of California, the House minority leader, reportedly urged Kerry friend James A. Johnson, who heads the Kerry Veep search, to act quickly and make the much anticipated selection by May 1. The rationale is to quickly field an attack dog who could effectively counter Vice-president Dick Cheney – leaving Kerry free to occupy the high ground.

But Kerry won’t be rushed in his careful vetting process, and Pelosi’s recommended deadline has come and gone. Pundits familiar with the campaign’s thinking have suggested mid-May as the earliest potential date for an announcement, with sometime in June seen as more likely.

Kerry’s taciturn posture on the subject of a running mate may spring from lingering annoyance with the way his name as a prospective vice-presidential candidate was released -- then summarily discarded in 2000 -- when Al Gore was looking for a running mate.

Reportedly Kerry learned of his non-selection via press reports.

Edwards' Stock Goes Up

In any event, the McCain announcement inevitably elevates North Carolina Sen. John Edwards’ stock in the horserace. Although once denigrated by Kerry during the campaign as unable to deliver his own state much less a block of key southern states, the upbeat Edwards with his now polished stump repertoire is still perceived as a good foil for the stodgy Kerry.

What’s more, despite his disappointing performance in the primaries, Edwards apparently has the ability to rack up good numbers against Bush-Cheney when paired with Kerry.

In the nation’s heartland, Cincinnati’s WCPO-TV recently reported the results of its tri-state News Survey USA poll, asking a sampling of 500 voters who they would like to see as John Kerry’s running mate.

Seven percent tapped former Maine Sen. William Cohen, a Republican; 35 percent said Edwards; 12 percent said former candidate Rep. Dick Gephardt; 15 percent said Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a moderate elected in a Republican state; and 30 percent said other, or not sure.

Johnson has reportedly had conversations with Edwards, Gephardt, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Gov. Thomas J. Vilsack of Iowa.

Although Johnson has not released any formal “short-list,” the inevitable informal list of hopefuls as been growing. Potential running mates most often mentioned by Democrats interviewed by the Associated Press and other media include:

Sen. John Edwards, of course, but there are negatives. His selection would put two senators on the ticket -- another voting record to pick apart and another Washington “insider.”

Historically, Kerry is already fighting an uphill battle, since in this century only Warren Harding and John F. Kennedy have made the transition from Senate to Oval Office. Furthermore, Edwards has only been in office for 5 years and lacks experience in foreign policy.

Former Nebraska governor and senator Bob Kerrey has a Medal of Honor from Vietnam and has been a star on the 9/11 commission – but steadfastly says he has no interest in getting aboard the ticket

Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, the former NATO commander, managed to win Oklahoma in the primaries, but despite his “request permission to come aboard” love fest reportedly isn’t trusted after rumors that his campaign passed along nasty allegations about Kerry to the media.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is a moderate elected in a Republican state. Sebelius served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1987 through 1994. In 1994 she was elected to the first of two four-year terms as insurance commissioner, the first Democrat to win the position since the 19th Century. Sebelius served as president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2001, and the same year Governing magazine named her one of America's Top Ten Public Officials.

On November 5, 2002, Sebelius easily defeated her opponent by a margin of 53 percent to 45 percent, becoming the first daughter of a governor to be elected governor.

William Cohen is a Maine Republican who served in the Senate, then as defense secretary under Clinton. He has obvious foreign policy experience and his selection would signal bipartisanship. He has also been back on the skyline since the 9/11 Commission.

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner could pull his state out of the GOP column, help with other important southern states and add executive-level experience to the ticket. Like most governors, he has been in the trenches fighting budget problems, but his plan to close the deficit relies partially on tax increases.

Warner was the first in his family to graduate from college. He completed George Washington University in 1977 and then went on to graduate from Harvard Law School in 1980. He is a founding partner of Columbia Capital Corporation, a technology venture capital fund in Alexandria. He helped create more than 70 telecommunications and information technology companies, many of which later went public.

Warner managed L. Douglas Wilder's successful campaign for Governor of Virginia in 1989, and he served as chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia from 1993 to 1995.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has Hispanic roots and would be appealing to the nation’s largest and fastest-growing minority. A former U.N. ambassador, Richardson also has a strong suit in foreign policy. However, Richardson tots baggage from the Clinton era. He tried to find Monica Lewinsky a job and he was Energy Secretary during the bungled investigation of Wen Ho Lee, the Taiwan born nuclear scientist alleged to have spied for China.

Poised for Higher Office

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is in his second term in a state that narrowly went Democratic in 2000. Pledging not to seek a third term, he is reported poised for higher office. His own Web site these days touts:

“Tom Vilsack may not have the national name recognition of so many traditional presidential candidates who've preceded him. But then, that's not necessarily a precedent for someone to be elected (after all, who knew anything about Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton were before either of them emerged onto the national scene?). And household political names aren't always guaranteed to sell (anyone remember Bob Dole?).

“The governor has an abundance of untapped potential to connect with disoriented voters nationwide, especially in the rural areas that campaigning politicians take for granted or forget about. And those votes do all add up (for evidence of that, we don't need to look any further than the last presidential election). That's even more reason for Iowa's 7 electoral votes to be safely in the Democrats' column, which a Vilsack candidacy will all but guarantee.”

Rep. Dick Gephardt, the perennial Missouri congressman, petered out as a contender after a disastrous Iowa primary performance, but he still has important clout with organized labor. Gephardt is from a key a swing state, with Missouri supporting the winning candidate in every presidential election – save for one -- since 1900. Although perceived as another Washington insider, there is pressure on his behalf.

Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, has signaled his interest in being Kerry’s running mate, but may be leading a one-man band. He, like Gephardt, is tainted by his “loser” image from the primaries. Like Gephardt he dropped out early. Graham, who could help deliver Florida to the Democrats and avoid another 2000 presidential debacle, has endorsed Kerry. Asked whether he would wish to participate in the vice presidential process, Graham responded he would do anything within reason to get Kerry elected.

Despite being the resident guru on intelligence matters in the Senate, Graham has a nettlesome “notebook” problem. Reportedly, he has filled scads of notebooks with constituent requests and collateral notes – such as when he woke up, changed his clothes, or used the bathroom. Reportedly the weird habit had a role in Joe Lieberman getting the nod over Graham in 2000.

Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana was on the list of possible running mate for Al Gore in the presidential election of 2000.

After two terms as governor of Indiana (1989-96), Evan Bayh was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998, winning the seat once held by his father, Birch Bayh.

When he was re-elected governor in 1992, he did it with the highest percentage of the vote in a statewide election in modern Indiana history. By the end of his second term Bayh had an approval rating of nearly 80 percent.

Although popular, Bayh is sometimes criticized for being overly cautious and not using his political capital to reach for higher goals. But Bayh supporters counter by pointing out that his administration met challenges such as the rising costs of Medicaid, the need for more prisons and getting Indiana through a recession without a tax hike -- all while balancing the budget.

In 1998, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate, he claimed 64 percent of the vote, the largest victory margin ever by Democrat in a U.S. Senate race in Indiana. When Bayh arrived in Washington in January 1999, one of his first tasks as a senator was to pass judgment on fellow Democrat Bill Clinton, who had been impeached by the House.

“Kerry-Bayh 2004” T-shirts and ball caps are already available on the Internet.

More Veep Buzz

Gov. Edward G. Rendell, who was inaugurated as Pennsylvania’s 45th Governor on January 21, 2003, and serves as chief executive of the nation’s 5th most populous state while overseeing a $21 billion budget, also is mentioned in the Veep buzz.

From 1992 through 1999, Rendell served as mayor of the City of Philadelphia. Before serving as mayor, Rendell was elected district attorney of the City of Philadelphia for two terms from 1978 through 1985. Rendell served as general chair of the Democratic National Committee during the 2000 Presidential election. An Army veteran, he is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Villanova Law School.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, one of the Democratic Party’s top fundraisers, has said, “I will do whatever John Kerry wants me to do…. I don’t think [serving on his ticket] is something that will be offered or accepted.”

Most pundits suggest that a Kerry-Clinton ticket is the longest of shots – with strategists believing Sen. Clinton and her husband would cast an unwelcome giant shadow over the ticket.

Other long-shots include some outside of the political field but with strong fiscal credentials -- Fannie Mae chairman and CEO Franklin Raines, who was President Clinton’s budget director, and Robert Rubin, former Clinton Treasury secretary.

Yet more long-shot potential contenders reportedly include: Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Louisiana Sen. John Breaux, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, ex-Vermont Gov. and former frontrunner Howard Dean, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Washington Gov. Gary Locke, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, ex-Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn, West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, ex-New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, ex-EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, former Maine Sen. George Mitchell, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, and Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

With both Johnson’s and Kerry’s commitment to avoid a reprise of the 2000 confusion and hurt feelings, it is probable that even the ubiquitous “short list” may not be forthcoming this time around. It will go direct to the grand announcement.

Meanwhile, the secretive vetting process goes on, turning potential running mates inside-out to avoid any surprises after it is too late.

The decisive factor may be Bill Clinton. In the June edition of Vanity Fair, the magazine reports that Clinton has been pressing for Kerry to make Hillary his VP pick – though Hillary is not so interested.

But the other candidate Clinton is arguing for is John Edwards. Reportedly Clinton had told Kerry that with Edwards as his VP, the Democrats could have a lock on the White House until 2020.

In the end, however, it’s Kerry’s call, and the most important event for his campaign between now and the convention.

Editor's note: