Veeps

Now that Obama has clinched the nomination and Hillary will suspend her candidacy on Friday, Obama has assembled his team to begin the VP search.

I have my ideas as to who he will pick, but the most important thing is how he deals with Hillary and her 18 million supporters. He needs to ask her and he needs to do it sincerely, publicly and very carefully. He needs to somehow appease a lot of these voters. Before BO reached the number, I had been on countless pro-Hillary blogs and read hundreds of pissed Hillary supporters who had stated that they would not vote for Obama no matter what. They felt cheated. They felt like something was stolen from them. And most of all, they felt like they are victims of another stolen election. Democrats have been the victims too many times and they tend to take their ball and go home when this happens. We can't allow this to happen again. We will not carry any purple states if they choose to stay home. We have to engage these people. On that note, I have seen a lot of changes in opinion since Obama won. Not drastic changes, but people seem to be realizing what would happen if McCain coasted in because they were angry that their team lost and stayed home. The Dems need to focus on this change of heart and need to appease its base. Giving Hillary the VP slot would turn some of those angered voters out, but would that be enough? No.

I used to think that she had to be on there, but she is much more useful in the Senate. As we know, the VP slot needs to balance the ticket. They need to have some experience that the Pres might not cover so well. Hillary does not have that solid experience which Obama lacks. They both are naive when it comes to foreign policy. They both have the same policies and a similar career path. They will not offer a balanced ticket. Hillary offers one thing and that is the possibility that she can help carry certain states (mostly OH and PA). That was why Edwards was called on in 2004. He was supposed to help carry some southern states. Of course, he didn't deliver any states and essentially made the ticket one-sided. Hillary would not be a balance either.

There are a lot of names that people are throwing around, but all of them are attempts at Electorate map changes, not balances. The map is important, but these map changers or solidifiers are never a solid bet.

What Obama needs is to take McCain's only strong point away from him. He needs to get somebody who not only is a foreign policy buff, but some who can trump McCain's years of "experience". That person is Wes Clark.

Clark would be the biggest slap in the face to McCain and would make McCain change his platform. McCain could not use the experience line anymore. Using Iraq would be a pitfall and that would leave him with nothing to discuss. He could offer nothing.

Clark would not only counter McCain and actually outweigh him, but he would also be an excellent guide and leader. He can logically look at what is going on and with years and years of military knowledge, navigate the country through the countless missteps that the GOP has made. He is untouchable by the GOP as well. They can not discount the years he has on McCain and they can not brand him as unpatriotic which seems to be the only attack they have on Dems.

Clark's military experience is huge, but there is another reason why he would be excellent. He is a huge Clinton backer. He loves the Clinton's and they love him. He could help heal the wounds that the Dem's need to close. I saw Clark speak in 2004 and this guy connects with the people. He stood in front of a group of white Democratic working-class Tennesseans wearing a UT orange sweatshirt and made these people go wild with his down-to-earth personality. He connected and he did it with intelligence and confidence.

The Dems need a win. He is the balance. He needs to be the Veep.