Gephart to retire in 2005, Kerry asks McCain to reconsider his offer as VP

[kcvl]

Fox News...

[Hildy]

OMG...how pathetic is that????

[Gator113]

My Gawd this is funny!!! If I were a lib, I would be wetting myself!!! LOL

[Robert A Cook PE]

Technically, Nixon was Ike's VP before winning on his own in '68 ....

But he, too, went to California after losing in the VP-to-presidential race in '60 and lost big in at least one election immediately after.

[exhaustedmomma]

LBJ... I guess he counts.

[television is just wrong]

Yes, and what entertainment it will be.

[GiveEmDubya]

I can tell. I'm a Drama person, so some of the people I meet are as liberal as liberal can get. Any notion that Kerry has unified the liberal base is a load of crap. A handful, like me, are conservative and will vote for Bush. The rest hate Bush, but that doesn't necessarily translate into votes for Kerry. A chunk will vote for Kerry despite their misgivings about him, some will go Nader, and the rest are staying home. One thing I HAVE noticed is how firm Bush supporters are behind Bush around here. Kerry's support is a mile wide and an inch deep. Liberals that I know, except for the hardcore left, give Kerry credit for not being Bush, but they're not excited about him at all.

[OneTimeLurker]

I'm sure you are right as it relates to Kerry. You seemed to be making a blanket statement. Too many times people confuse stubbornness with steadfastness or changing an opinion with being a flip flopper.

[bitt]

'A nuance boy.'

or a Nancy boy.

[bitt]

hellllloooooo!!!!

Could we talk you into sharing the recipe, my mouth is WATERING!!!!!!!!

Please!!!!!! My children would speak your name adoringly...

[LI conservative]

It depends on what you mean as a "political death knell". If you mean winning the presidency, yes, it is, but if the standard is lower than that, then for several people on your list it was not a death knell. Bentsen continued to serve as the Chairman of the Sen. Finance Committee before becoming Sec'y of the Treasury and Dole had a huge career in the Senate after 1976. Kemp's career was over before Dole pick him and Quayle's career was over, too. Even had the GOP won in '92, DQ was never going to be the nominee in '96. As for Lieberman, my guess is that he'll continue to have a career in the Senate as long as he wants one, could run for gov in CT, or could be appointed to a Cabinet post in a Dem WH.

[my right]

I would like to see where the news came from. Is this just an inside rumor or what? I personally believe they deserve each other. I hate to say that about McCain because of his service to this country but I cannot abide his aberrant radical behavior.

[Alberta's Child]

For those people you listed, I think they would have ended up in those positions regardless of their prior history as VP candidates.

Lieberman is a bit of an exception in any case, since he happened to represent a state that permitted him to run as a candidate for both the VP and U.S. Senate. If that were not the case, I think he would have disappeared as quickly as someone like Ferraro had. For him to come back four years later and have such a dismal showing in the Democratic primary campaign was all the evidence you need of that.

[kcvl]

It came from the television screen of Fox News.

[Valin]

Tell you what John, if I can get a leave of absence from my job I'll be your Veep. I'll do because you're really looking pathetic with this Veep search. What's next put an ad in the paper?

[LI conservative]

Saying that some of these people would have ended up in their future positions seems to contradict your assertion that being a losing VP candidate is a political death knell b/c if it was, then they would not have gone on to their successful careers. As for Lieberman, his dismal showing in this year's primary was b/c he's out of step w/ most Dem primary voters, especially on the War in Iraq.

[Alberta's Child]

You're right. I should have been more clear about that -- when I said "death knell," I was really referring to future White House aspirations more than anything else.

Something to keep in mind here is that many of these VP candidates make terrible presidential candidates for one simple reason: it doesn't take any superior qualifications to be a VP candidate. For the most part, they aren't people who have endured the national campaign trail in a primary season, or functioned as executives in state governments.

I understand your point about Lieberman's war stance affecting his ability to win the Democratic nomination, but the man's performance was downright abysmal -- he was barely competitive with Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton in most states. This should not have come to a surprise to anyone; he was a terrible presidential candidate for all the same reasons he was a terrible VP candidate four years earlier. If VP candidates had to go through a primary process, he wouldn't have finished among the top 20 in any group of prospective Democratic VP candidates in 2000.