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Senator Lurch Kerry apparently interviewed Dick Gephardt for the Veep slot on the know-nothing Democrat ticket.
John F. Kerry spent 90 minutes yesterday interviewing Representative Richard A. Gephardt, as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee began the closing phase of his search for a running mate, according to a Democratic official close to both men.
In the words of a certain botoxed sage, "Bring Him Awwwwwwwn".
The "strategy" behind giving Gepper the nod is pretty obvious; get someone on the ticket who can make inroads in a battleground state, shore up the right side of the ticket, and placate labor and any swing voters who might think the Missouri representative might bring some oomph to the terminally trite Kerry foreign policy team.
Doubt it'll work.
For starters, I sincerely doubt Gephardt will play outside Saint Louis. Politically, Missouri is like Minnesota on meth; the states are based around a couple of terminally-liberal urban areas (St. Louis, KC and so on) surrounded by outstate areas that are conservative, and becoming moreso.
Furthermore, the power of the urban liberals has attenuated over the years; it was emblematic that after years of urban-special-interest dirty tricks and media shenanigans, Minnesota and Missouri passed shall-issue concealed carry laws within months of each other - stunning setbacks to liberal urban groups that had thought they owned their states' respective processes. Suffice to say, there are those who think having Gepper on the ticket won't be enough to take Missouri out of the "battleground" category.
Fritz Mondale lost the Senate race in 2002 based on the same kinds of electoral dynamics. Will Gephardt play the same way outside Saint Louis?
I think it's possible.
Posted by Mitch at
June 17, 2004 04:01 PM
And lets not forget that John Ashcroft (remember him?) was elected state attorney general (twice), governor (twice), and senator once narrowly losing a second term in Missouri.
I.e. John Ashcroft carried the state of Missouri five times.
Posted by: Hal Duston at June 17, 2004 04:27 PMYeah, but then he went and lost to a dead man, so that cancels all those victories out. From what I remember, the dead man's acceptance speech was riveting, but brief.
Posted by: Ryan at June 17, 2004 04:31 PMau contraire. kerry might poll better if he were to check out before the election.
Posted by: spellunked at June 17, 2004 04:36 PMThe sad things is that even if he were deceased, there would be plenty of Democrats who would still vote for Kerry...
Posted by: Jay Reding at June 17, 2004 09:13 PM