Richardson Wins Daily KOS Obama-VP Election By Landslide
Richardson won against 45 candidates in an election that went through five rounds of polling between pairs of candidates, finally eliminating all but Bill Richardson and Jim Webb (runners up: Kathleen Sebelius and Tim Kaine). Final poll results:
Who would you prefer as Barack Obama's running mate?
Bill Richardson
56% 3186 votes
Jim Webb
43% 2451 votes
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5637 votes
Link to article
If you are in a state that has not yet voted, PLEASE turn out at the polls for Obama. Our country needs Obama/Richardson, the Camelot team.
Who would you prefer as Barack Obama's running mate?
Bill Richardson
56% 3186 votes
Jim Webb
43% 2451 votes
-----------------
5637 votes
Link to article
If you are in a state that has not yet voted, PLEASE turn out at the polls for Obama. Our country needs Obama/Richardson, the Camelot team.
+ Not only is Sebelius the re-elected dem gov of Kansas, a red state, she was re-elected with an almost 5% larger margin in 06 than her margin in 02. ( Not as good as the 69% total that Richardson gained in 06, but still impressive. I still remain a Richardson partisan at heart.)
+ She was a lauded insurance commissioner in Kansas before winning the gov's job. Someone who could, I surmise, work for the people against the excess greed of big insurance folks and yet also know the big insurance business enough to work effectively.
+ Did you know that her father was Ohio gov John Gilligan? thus she has a strong opportunity to help pull women & Kansas & Ohio into the Obama fold, neutralizing much of the pro-hillary reservations to support barack.
+ Further, did you know that she has also been a Michigan vacationer since childhood, with a vacation place near Traverse City. thus women, Kansas, Ohio and Michigan might all be more likely in play with Sebelius on the ticket.
+ Do you remember when Sebelius publicly and effectively took GWBush to task over the problems facing states because W. and Rumsfeld had stripped the national guard units of equipment and manpower in their Iraq mis-adventure? States were and still are hampered to respond to natural disasters (like tornado relief in Kansas, flood and fire relief in Oregon, etc) because of the ideas that McCain still wants to continue. Sebelius would be, I predict, equally strong and effective on the stump in the fall campaign.
+ In November 2005 Time named Sebelius as one of the five best governors in America, praising her for eliminating a $1.1 billion debt she inherited, ferreting out waste in state government, and strongly supporting public education — all without raising taxes. Also praised was her bipartisan approach to governing, a useful trait in a state where Republicans have usually controlled the Legislature.
+ Her husband is a federal judge, possibly indicating an appreciation for the judiciary that would serve progressives and moderates well in the light of the conservative court packing that has been going on.
+ Her father in law was a 6 term Kansas republican congressman, thus adding another level of support to those current GOPers who are disgusted with the direction of their party and looking for reasons to support Obama. A list that includes Eisenhower and Nixon family members, to name a few, already.
I'm thinking Gov. Sebelius would be an excellent choice for Obama's veep.
And Gov. Richardson as Secretary of State or -- maybe to please Barbara Richardson -- a return to the job he loved as US Ambassador to the United Nations and an additonal role as a most senior advisor to the White House. Though why they'd want to leave the statehouse and the horses in New Mexico is certainly a question I'd think about more than twice.
Jeff Barton
Beaverton, Oregon 97005
Though she's an awesome governor, and an awesome lady, the PR she has gotten with regard to an Obama VP position makes no sense to me. At the risk of sounding like Geraldine Ferraro, I believe the only reason she has gotten this PR is because she is a woman. If she was a man she would not be considered for this role because she is missing the qualities needed to balance Obama. As much as I would like to see a female candidate be nominated in one of the highest roles, I also would like our party to win, and don't see how an Obama/Sebelius ticket could possibly win against McCain.
Obama needs a VP who has solid foreign policy experience to balance his own lacking background in this area. Sebelius has none.
The most important issue facing our country at this time is our dependence on foreign oil, which Sebelius has no experience or knowledge in solving. When we solve this dependency issue, we stop funding terrorism against the U.S. and our allies, and transcend the choke-hold oil providers who are allied with our terrorist enemies have over the U.S. economy.
Sebelius has no experience in the areas of security, diplomacy, energy, foreign policy, and foreign economic policies. A team of two who are both strong on domestic, but weak on foreign policy, will not win against McCain.
It is also worthwhile to note that the numbers of Hispanic voters that Richardson will undoubtably attract is considerably larger than the number of female voters likely to vote on the issue of gender alone.
Sebelius is a brilliant woman who understands the domestic issues of our country, and should be appointed for a cabinet position that takes advantage of her demonstrated governance abilities and clear common sense, integrity, and knowledge of the issues. She is not qualified to bring the Democratic party to a win in November partnered with Obama against McCain.