[Brandon]

It's going to be Gephardt. I came to that conclusion on Super Tuesday, and I'm sticking to it.

Kerry is risk-averse. Gephardt is a safe choice. He won't outshine Kerry; he might help win Missouri (which would give Kerry the election, if everything else was a re-run of 2000), and he has bona fides with organizaed labor and national security.

Graham will not be the pick, simply because that would mean (in the event of a Kerry victory) that the Dems would lose two Senate seats instead of just one. Likewise, rule out any Senator from a state with a GOP governor, for the same reason.

Gephardt is not really a strong choice; he has a lot of weaknesses, not least of which is that he is almost as boring as Kerry, and also that he is very old news -- he first ran for president in 1988. But what Orin's list really shows us is that the Dems do not have a very deep bench.

[I still care]

I keep wondering if Lieberman might do it. After he entered the race with Gore in 2000, that was when the media turned around and started praising Gore to the skies. He would help Kerry's rush to the center, and is Jewish for the Florida demo vote.

Even though he did this before, and is somewhat old news, and hated by the Demo radical base "Holy Joe", he has a reputation as solid anti-terrorism and is the only one that spoke out for Iraq. He also was the first person to tour with Kerry in FL. (I wondered if Kerry was "feeling" him out).

It would be a pretty boring, whiney sounding ticket though.

[MHT]

DickHart is a loser of a choice. First, he has never run state-wide in MO and may not carry the state. Secondly, his divorced daughter has come out of the closet and is an in-your-face gay who doesn't show the same discretion that Cheney's daughter does. Gep couldn't deliver the union vote in IA, and came in 4th in a neighboring state to boot. He's pedantic, boring, and is an old-style pol with no tv charisma or eyebrows. AND he supported the war.... He's a pro-life Baptist who switched to pro-choice for the 1988 primary.

[AntiGuv]

Graham will not be the pick, simply because that would mean (in the event of a Kerry victory) that the Dems would lose two Senate seats instead of just one.

Graham is retiring and his seat is open this year. The point is irrelevant.

[rarebird]

I agree with your most of your assessment on why Kerry will pick Gephardt: he doesn't outshine Kerry, Missouri is a battleground state, Gephardt helps Kerry with the unions.

Choosing Gephardt is problematic for Kerry, given Gephardt's past ties to White Citizen Council groups.