Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Once more Sebelius is named as a possible vice president

By Diane Silver

The Washington Posts today listed Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as one of nine possible vice presidential candidates.

I'm going to sound terribly cynical, but I don't see this as very likely. If nominated, Barack Obama may well need to shore up the white male vote and chose accordingly. Hillary Clinton would need to pick a male running mate for similar reasons of touchiness, prejudice and balance. John Edwards is Sebelius' best bet for getting the number two spot, and Edwards' star is decidedly dimming.

Please note that I'm not saying that such touchiness / prejudice / political balance are right, only that they're factors candidates will likely consider as they mull over a running mate.

6 comments:

Bill W said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bill W said...

"John Edwards is Sebelius' best bet for getting the number two spot ..."

That's not much of a chance, as John's not likely to win a single state primary/caucus, not to mention I don't see Edwards picking Sebelius if this pans out:

Today's WaPo: "Obama ... may be close to securing the nod of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, sources close to the campaign said. ..."

I think this is Sebelius' best bet, and a lot of people agree.

Diane Silver said...

Hi Bill!

I agree with you that Edwards doesn't have much chance of winning the nomination. My point was, and is, that a white man as presidential candidate can take a chance on a female running mate while a black man or woman in the No. 1 position probably can't.

Once again, I DO NOT think this is the way things should be. I do think this is the way politicos will most likely be thinking.

Thanks for the good links. I'm particularly interested in the Washington Post story. I'm posting on that separately.

Bill W said...

Then you may like this:

UPDATE, 10:03 a.m.: A statement from Nicole Corcoran, press secretary to the governor:

"I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that no endorsement of any candidate will come from Governor Kathleen Sebelius until after she has delivered the response to the State of the Union.

When Speaker Pelosi contacted the Governor about delivering the response, it was an important requirement of the invitation. So, after January 28th – Governor Sebelius will be able to endorse in the presidential race if she chooses to do so."

Bill W said...

That explains for me why she didn't do so the other day in Topeka when big Obama endorsements were hinted, and Sebelius wasn't one of them.

Diane Silver said...

Thanks, again, Bill for keeping us updated. Also see my newest post on this topic.

Glad to have you hear, Bill!