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"at this moment in the campaign the main domestic issue may well be the chronic loss of manufacturing jobs. And if Kerry chooses Rendell as running mate, that will be campaign issue # 1; and it will put these states won by Bush in 2000 in play: Ohio, WV, Kentucky, Tennessee, perhaps others. Plus it would solidify Penn, Mich, NJ, Missouri in the Dem camp, leaving them to spend money in (for them!) less secure states. Of all the potential VPs out there, Rendell is the one who offers the most benefit to a Kerry campaign."

I agree that Kerry's best line of attack may be the loss of manufacturing jobs, but couldn't disagree with you more regarding how helpful Rendell would be. I don't think he would help Kerry in any of the states you mentioned except PA and NJ (he would also help in Delaware, which you didn't mention). Rendell is very popular in the Philly metro area, but lost the rest of the state to the GOP gubernatorial candidate and is a DLC-type, in favor of free trade and such. Plus, he had a pretty bad relationship with unions in Philly when he was mayor. Just as Rendell wouldn't help Kerry much in Western PA, he wouldn't help him at all in Ohio or Michigan and much less in Missouri, West Virginia, Tennessee or Kentucky. If Kerry wants to be competitive in those states, he's better off picking Dick Gephardt, although, in all honesty, nothing Kerry does will allow him to carry KY or TN (not that he needs to if he can win the other states you mentioned).

You make a lot of great points, and clearly you know more about the politics on the ground in those battleground states. So thanks much for your insights. But it still seems that, of all the options, Rendell offers the most upside for Kerry. He has the personality, the executive record, the friends in the media, the common-sense approach to politics and getting things done that any Senator, and especially Kerry, will need for ballast. I must admit that I wasn't aware that he had alienated so many union types. If even Rendell can't bring in the blue-collar types, then Kerry is worse off than I thought.