Veepstakes

Feeling his name recognition slipping away, John Kerry is rightly making an effort to thrust himself back into the limelight. Credible reports claim that he'll announce his vice-presidential candidate as early as next Tuesday. After letting Bush twist in the wind for a couple months while fund-raising and airing bushels of commercials, this seems like good timing to announce the Veep early in July, as the convention later in the month will provide a further bounce.

The odds-on favorites according to the reports are NC Sen. John Edwards, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. All three are from battleground states (a recent poll in North Carolina has the state almost even with Edwards factored into the race). Barring a surprise, it's going to be one of these three guys (unless Saddam Hussein can sweet-talk Kerry into a shot, the way he sweet-talked his way through that Baghdad courtroom today).

Obviously, there's some personal concerns about putting Edwards on the ticket; otherwise, I think he'd definitely be the choice. He's bright, energetic, seems to be an excellent campaigner, cuts down Bush on economic issues (now looming as, jeepers, Bush's strength, and would add a jolt of liveliness to what is sometimes perceived as a moribund Kerry campaign. It's either Kerry and Edwards don't like one another, or Kerry's afraid of being overshadowed by a better politician. Gephardt's almost the polar opposite; obviously he has a lot of personal affinity for Kerry, but I think that adds no energy to this campaign. Plus, I'll never forget Gephardt standing there in the Rose Garden in 2002 as co-author of the Iraq resolution, and how as the minority leader he completely bungled the midterm elections. Then there's Vilsack, who's the compromise choice. A bit of an unknown on the national stage, he likely helped out Kerry big-time in Iowa, and this consideration is a kind of payback.

I still wouldn't rule out former Senator Max Cleland, the Vietnam Vet who's been at almost every Kerry campaign stop this year. Ultimately, I don't think these things matter all that much anymore; as much as you can blather that Edwards "will help us take the South" or Gephardt "secures Missouri," ultmimately the race is between the two at the top. That being said, Gephardt makes my skin crawl. Just a personal opinion.