Barack Obama’s Running Mate
Seeing this clip and a couple of others on youtube has made me terribly excited about the prospect of Sen. Jim Webb as Obama’s running mate. In this one he aggressively but articulately attacks Lindsey Graham on the actual impact of the surge. He also doesn’t let Graham use the classic Republican talking point of hiding behind the troops, by looking at the consequences of the war on the soldiers. It’s one thing Jon Stewart doing this, but it has a lot more weight when it comes from someone who served in the millitary and in Ronald Reagan’s administration.
In this video, he makes some really interesting points about the scottish/irish cultural group in America and how they have been left behind and the possibility of a populist politics which cuts across across racial lines. Also check out this clip in which he’s interviewed by Olbermann on the State of the Union address.
i’m not sure about webb. He seems a bit too partisan in those clips.
Gege, he served as secretary for the navy under reagan and used to be a republican. He only really officially came out as a democrat when he ran for the senate seat.
Shariq, my point is that he seemed too agressive and rude when making his arguments.
Well, one wants an aggressive VP so he can make the points that Obama won’t want to make. On paper he looks good, admittedly. I don’t know if he has the charisma though.
Hillary is a definite no-no.
Agreed.
Indeed, and if this is to be believed, Obama believes so too.
I like Jim Webb a lot, and he scares the hell out of Republicans, so he must be doing something right. His ‘07 speech responding to the Bush’s State of the Union (which he wrote himself) was outstanding and his national security credentials will help Obama each time McCain whinges ‘waaa, waaa, you’ve never been in uniform’.
As for charisma, well, it’s a pretty difficult trait to define and not necessarily one that’s needed in a VP (two words: Dick Cheney). I reckon that having the ticket balanced with a straight, serious man who’s gutsy rather than flashy would help Obama out, particularly when it comes to appealing to working class Americans.
He’s not perfect - he once wrote against women serving in the military and some of the ‘racy’ excerpts from his novels nearly derailed his Senate campaign - but he’s probably the best choice from whatever shortlist Obama’s working on