The Left Anchor

I’m reposting this from a post at TPMCafe. I’ve received a few requests to do a profile of Chris Dodd, but I believe nyg2008 has done an excellent job, and other than breaking down a few demographic categories (which I don’t feel is necessary), I don’t think there’s much more I could add. You can view the rest of our vice presidential profiles here.
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This is the ninth entry in our profile series of Barack Obama’s most likely candidates for the VP slot. The previous profiles can be viewed here.

If there’s one thing doing this series of profiles has taught me, it’s that I have been poorly informed about the various options available to Obama. Case in point: Janet Napolitano. I had heard the name before in the context of a possible vice presidential candidate, but she was never among the top few I was considering. But as I’ll demonstrate through the rest of this post, she posts some of the most impressive numbers in the field.
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This is the eleventh in our series of profiles on Barack Obama’s most likely candidates for the vice presidential nomination. You can view our other profiles here.

Brian Schweitzer is among the names mentioned most often as a possibility for the vice presidential slot on an Obama ticket. He was elected governor of Montana, a state slowly trending blue, in 2004 by a margin of four points over his competitor, former Secretary of State Bob Brown.
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This is the eighth entry in our series profiling Barack Obama’s most likely vice presidential candidates. We’ve previously profiled Ted Strickland, John Edwards, Tim Kaine, Kathleen Sebelius, Jim Webb, Wesley Clark, and Ed Rendell. You can view our previous profiles here.
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This is the fourth entry in our week-long series profiling the most likely vice presidential candidates. We’ve previously looked at Sen. Jim Webb, Gov. Ted Strickland, and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Today we look at Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia, another likely candidate for Obama’s short list. Gov. Kaine was one of the first Democrats outside of Illinois to endorse Barack Obama during the earliest days of his candidacy. Kaine was first elected governor in 2005, by a very narrow margin, and his term is set to expire in 2010. Kaine prospects beyond then are dim; Virginia law prevents Kaine from serving consecutive terms, and Sen. Jim Webb’s seat cannot be challenged until 2012, as for Virginia’s other Senate seat, it seems quite likely that Democrat Mark Warner will take over Republican Sen. John Warner’s seat this November. These factors likely make Kaine very open to the possibility of a vice presidential nomination. An immediate problem with selecting Kaine is that it would put Virginia’s Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican, in the governor’s mansion, providing him with a leg-up in the 2009 gubernatorial race.
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This is the third in our week-long series profiling the most likely vice presidential candidates. We’ve previously profiled Sen. Jim Webb and Gov. Ted Strickland.

One of the most buzzed about possibilities for the VP slot is Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Gov. Sebelius is a popular governor of a conservative state. She has a 61% approval rating in a state where Bush bested Kerry by 25 points. That approval rating makes her one of the most popular governors in the country, and there’s no doubt she’d be inclined to consider an offer given that Kansas term limits prevent her for running for governor again (her term expires at the end of 2010). Futhermore, she endorsed Obama, and would act as a salve to those who were hoping to see a woman at the top of the ticket. The ostensible ability to increase Obama’s pull among women is probably her strongest appeal, but this may be negated by the fact that Hillary Clinton is likely to campaign on behalf of Obama following the end of the primary season, and, despite the divide between the two camps now, one would imagine Clinton will be very effective at wooing women to the Democratic ticket.Sebelius_3
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This is the second in our week long series profiling the most likely vice presidential candidates. Yesterday we looked at Virginia Senator Jim Webb; tomorrow we will be profiling Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

A man bound to be on the short list for Obama’s vice president is Ohio governor Ted Strickland. Not only is Strickland the governor of one of the most important swing states, but Ohio is also a state whose demographics don’t immediately favor Obama. Certainly Sen. Obama will pick up the lion’s share of Clinton supporters in the state, but he’s going to have to fight tooth and nail for conservative Democrats and independents against the so-called maverick, John McCain.Strickland
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Raylan Givens gives us our first vice presidential profile today. He takes a look at Jim Webb and finds some weaknesses. I’d also add that Jim Webb running as vice president would needlessly cost us a Senate seat that we might not be able to win again. Of equal importance is the fact that Jim Webb’s current approval rating in Virginia is only 47 percent, far less than Republican senator John Warner who polls at 62 percent. Webb also fails to gain majority approval from virtually every demographic, except for women (51%), 50-64 year olds (51%), and African Americans (57%). Despite his fantastic resume, and popularity among bloggers, it is not immediately apparent that Sen. Webb would help Obama expand his base.Webb_2
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