Obama/Kaine-the least experienced ticket in 60 years?

[NeoCon65]

So the news is that Barack Obama will pick Tim Kaine, possibly to the Democrat party ticket as VP. As we all know, Barack Osama has a mere 3 years in the senate. Tim Kaine has more experience than Obama, 4 years as governor of Virginia. I know this would be a pretty novice ticket, but how novice? To find a ticket this inexperienced, I had to go back far, even past Peanut Farmer, as at least his VP, Walter Mondale had 12 years as Senator and 4 years Minnesota AG. The most recent ticket with as little experience as Barack and Timmy Kaine will have is... Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman in 1952 when Ike Eisenhower landslided them! Stevenson had 4 years as governor, and Sparkman 6 in the senate. So Obama/Kaine will be the least experienced, or most inexperienced ticket in almost 60 years!

[calex59]

1952 is the first campaign I really remember. But sometimes I confuse it with the '56 campaign. Because I was pretty young. I must have been a pretty disturbed little kid because I watched the conventions as long as my parents would allow me to stay up.

I watched the elections in both those years with great interest. I was 10 yo in '52 so that shows you how messed up I was! During the '52 election my teacher took us to a TV(some of us didn't have them) and let us watch the convention for the whole day, that was a great school day for me and I couldn't understand why some kids didn't like it! Back then teachers taught the constitution and how government is supposed to work.

[saveliberty]

LOL

[saveliberty]

:-) Thanks for those stories, isrul!

[Non-Sequitur]

If you put Kaine up against Mitt Romney....Romney wins hands down on debate talents.

Put Kaine up against Pawlenty and you're going to have to have a big sign behind each man identifying which one is which.

[saveliberty]

That’s great! You had teachers who knew how and wanted to teach, calex59!

[Non-Sequitur]

The consensus to date seems to have been that Obama would pair himself up with someone with more government experience, and the foreign policy and defense know-how that he lacks. A Richardson or Biden or Nunn, someone like that. If he’s seriously considering Kaine then it’s an indication that Obama is arrogant enough to believe that he doesn’t need any assistance in those areas. Not a good sign for the country if he wins.

[x]

It could be a smokescreen. Obama will appeal to former Governor Mark Warner and maybe Warner will accept.

Warner only had four years experience as governor (that's all Virginia's constitution allows), but he'd be a stronger running mate (if he's willing to give up his Senate bid and take the nomination).

[Non-Sequitur]

If Obama wins then the sign should be CAUTION - STUDENT DRIVER.

[maine-iac7]

I wonder if the obamination isn't having a hard time in who to pick.

He needs to have someone that will resonate with the public = but with his exalted sense of self, won't want anyone who may take any attention away from him for a moment

[adorno]

he spent 143 days actually “working” in the Senate

I doubt he even worked those 143 days as a senator.

As soon as he gave that speech in the democrat party convention in 2004, he started scheming for a way to run for president and the senate was seen as a stepping stone for his goal.

I'm pretty sure that in those 143 days, he started his plans for running for president and the senate duties were secondary. He might have been present for those 143 days, but his mind and efforts were elsewhere. I have no doubts that his senate staffers did all of his senatorial work while he was prepping for the primaries and the presidency; those staffers have been doing his work for all the time he has been senator.

[isrul]

Agreed! The scary thing is, that I now remember it as if it were yesterday. I was a couple of years younger than ten. so I was even more disturbed.

[Jen from Tn.]

I agree...After I heard Kaine was in the running,I went back and watched his message after the State Of The Union. i laughed my butt off again!

[seoul62]

I want to send him a complimentary can of Ron Popeil’s: Hair in a can spray, do you think it will help?/Just Asking - seoul62........

[andy58-in-nh]

I'm sure you're right about that. It is astonishing that even had Obama worled - really worked every waking hour, all of those 143 days - he would still be far too inexperienced by historical standards to be taken seriously as a Presidential candidate.

Or, if he were white.

But what the hell do I know? I'm just a bitter old typical white person clinging to my guns and my God and living in fear of uppity Negroes.

[Jen from Tn.]

Now I will have to go back and study his hair.

[riverdawg]

“Lieutenant governor in Virginia is ENTIRELY ceremonial ...”

This isn't entirely correct. The Lt. Gov. can vote to break a tie vote in the Va. Senate, just like the VP can break a tie in the U.S. Senate. Lt. Gov. Chuck Robb broke a tie vote on a very controversial issue that came up in the late 70’s or early 80’s. I vaguely recall that the bill provided funding for abortions in the case of incest or rape. I remember the vote both because of the underlying controversy over the bill but also because the tie-breaking opportunity was rare.

[wagglebee]

You are correct; however, as you point out, such occasions are so rare as to hardly matter. I am not aware of Kaine EVER being in such a position.

[cricket]

Am wondering if on the 'plus' side; at least for team Obama,if having a name 'similar' to J.McCain's was not considered an advantage for Obama's target voters. . .

[NC28203]

>>> The most recent ticket with as little experience as Barack and Timmy Kaine will have is... Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman in 1952 when Ike Eisenhower landslided them! Stevenson had 4 years as governor, and Sparkman 6 in the senate. So Obama/Kaine will be the least experienced, or most inexperienced ticket in almost 60 years!

You are forgetting Eisenhower/Nixon.
Eisenhower - 0 years in elected office
Nixon - 4 years congress and 2 years Senate

[Corin Stormhands]

You are correct; however, as you point out, such occasions are so rare as to hardly matter. I am not aware of Kaine EVER being in such a position.

Kaine also presided over a Republican Senate. Robb over a Democratic Senate.

Even the RINOs in the VA Senate were not about to let Kaine be their tie-breaker.