Moving Past Hillary and Onto Other Potentials VPs

By Abigail

Everyone is so busy talking about a Hillary Clinton VP spot they seem to be forgetting that there are a lot of other great contenders out there who could be Barack Obama’s number two. Considering how nasty the nomination fight got, it’s not hard to imagine a situation in which Obama would pick one of these qualified party members above his ex-nemesis. Check out these top three VP candidates:

Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas – Coming out of an eight-year run in the Kansas House of Representatives, Sebelius was elected the state’s Insurance Commissioner and rattled the status quo when she refused to take campaign contributions from insurers. She is currently serving her second term as Kansas Governor. Sebelius says she is personally pro-life, but supports abortion rights; she opposed capitol punishment; and as governor she has made education and the environment her top priorities. She’s a great candidate because she can help lure back the women voters who say they won’t vote Democratic now that Hillary is out.

How you know her: If you happened to watch the Democrat’s response to this year’s State of the Union you saw Sebelius speak and, by gosh, is she boring!

Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico – With a resume as long as this guy’s it’s no surprise his name as been mentioned in the VP chatter. He has served as an Ambassador to the United Nations, a U.S. Representative, and as Secretary of Energy to President Bill Clinton. As an Ambassador he represented the US in UN talks between Israel and Palestine, so he’s got John McCain beat when it comes to international relations and experience. He’s also a great candidate to help bring Latino voters to Obama’s side, a group who overwhelmingly voted for Hillary.

How you know him: He was hoping to be president. He ran against Obama and Hillary,but was overshadowed and dropped out in January.

Wesley Clark, retired Army General – Just because he was a big Hillary Clinton supporter during the primaries doesn’t mean he’s out of the running. His resume is even longer than Richardson’s. Going back to the very beginning–– Clark was a valedictorian at West Point and a Rhodes Scholar, he served in the Army and in the Department of Defense for thirty-four years, and he commanded the Allied Forces in Kosovo while he was Supreme Allied Commander Europe (just one title below Ninja-Pirate-Superhero-Man). He outranks John McCain, by a lot, and as someone who grew up in, and currently resides in, Arkansas, he can help get some of the white Southern vote.

How you know him: He participated in the 2004 primary but dropped out and endorsed John Kerry.

Personally I’d like to see Stephen T. Colbert, of South Carolina, get the nomination. But I guess that’s why I don’t work for the DNC…

[all images from wikipedia]