Who for V.P.?

Who will John Kerry select as his running mate? In a close race like this one, the candidate for Veep might have the ability to help him pick up enough votes to make the difference in the race.

Yosef Fufa suggested that I throw this topic out for comments and I think it is a good idea. I'd like to know who you think would be the best choice for V.P.

First, however, I must say that I think George Bush made a big mistake in keeping Dick Cheney as his running mate. Yes, Cheney is a solid conservative, and that makes the right-wing of the party happy, but there are plenty of strong Republicans in the party that would bring more to the ticket.

First of all, Bush could have dumped Cheney by simply asking the man, who has no ambition to be President, to step down because of his health. The public would have bought that. I mean really...how many heart attacks has the man had? Bush wouldn't even have to kick him out of the government entirely. He could take a lesser cabinet position; become the next ambassador to Iraq; become a test subject for the Surgeon General; anything!!!!

Secondly, and more seriously, the man has given the President some of the worst advice of his Presidency. Cheney was one of the neo-conservative hawks demanding that we invade Iraq. Cheney insisted (and still insists!) that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and had dangerous ties to al-Queda. It is pretty well established that these things have been proven false.

Thirdly, Cheney trusted and promoted Ahmed Chalabi more than anyone else in the Bush administration. He was being paid by the U.S. government up until a few months ago, for his help and intelligence reports. Of course a few weeks ago, when we found out that Chalabi had been selling U.S. secrets to Iran, we cut off ties with him and ransacked his house in Iraq looking for evidence.

Fourth, he was the CEO of Halliburton from 1995-2000. He made millions from them, now they are making billions off of rebuilding Iraq. Oh yeah, Cheney still has tons of Halliburton stock. 'Nuff said.

Lastly, I don't think Cheney brings anything to the ticket to help Bush get re-elected. He's from a state with a tiny population, he has no charisma, and he is unwilling to admit that he has made mistakes. The good thing for Bush is that he doesn't look to bad in comparison to Cheney.

Bush could have tapped someone like Colin Powell as his running mate. Powell has been a loyal soldier to Reagan, Bush Sr., and "W". He went along with the war in Iraq only after encouraging the President to wait longer and get more support from our allies before going in. He made a presentation to the U.N. that turned out to be full of untruths, but he has admitted the intelligence he relied on was faulty. Compare this to the pig-headed obstinancy that we keep getting from Cheney.

Powell or someone else could create excitement for Bush and place a sane, rational man a heart-beat away from the presidency instead of this crusading ideologue.

Am I wrong? Has Cheney got some sort of redeeming qualities that Bush sees that I don't?

Oh, yeah. The Democrats. I think Kerry would be crazy not to select John Edwards as his running mate. I think he offers the best chance to help Kerry get votes.

Post some comments and let me know what your political strategy would be.