| For the last few months, Calitics has been part of the Ruckus Blog on Newsweek. This week we're starting a question feature. The question this week asks who would be a bold pick for John McCain and Barack Obama as VP candidates. This being a California blog, I have some answers for that question. I'm not going to say these would be good picks, but they will be bold. McCain: Duncan "wildebeest" Hunter. Barack Obama: Barbara Boxer.
Duncan Hunter: Let's look at Duncan Hunter first. He's a longtime congressman and first time presidential candidate this cycle. The man is clearly insane, so much so that he wants to feed the Darfur refugees with wildebeest that he shoots himself. And that's not all. He wants to turn Santa Rosa Island into a hunting park for, well, anybody that carries enough political clout for him to get through. He tried veterans, then moved to disabled veterans. I'm pretty sure he'll next say that Santa Rosa Island should be a wildebeest hunting refuge for the Darfur refugees next. Or something like that.
Hunter is a conservative's conservative. He won't help you carry California, but he will bring the NRA and a whole slew of gun enthusiasts to your side. He won't bring the votes of military families that have been torn apart by the foolish war in Iraq, but he will bring you Pentagon contractors. He's real tight with them. This is a certainly a bold pick.
Duncan Hunter: Conservative, Gun-toting, and Completely Insane. Now, that's Bold.
Barbara Boxer: On the more serious side, Barbara Boxer would be a phenomenal choice to take the lower line of the Democratic ticket. She is enormously popular with the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party (meaning us liberals), and would create an historic ticket. While I'm not sure that Boxer would make up for a Clinton loss, the Obama/Boxer ticket would break boundaries that should have been broken long ago.
Boxer has been fighting for California in the Senate since 1990 and has truly done a phenomenal job. Her leadership regarding climate change has been overshadowed by Al Gore, but has been critical to whatever movement there has been on the issue. She opposed the Iraq War, reinforcing Obama's position.
She's not on the short list, likely because she would be seen as "too liberal" or due to the fact that she's from California, a state where Obama leads by 24 points. That's a shame. Yet, Boxer would be a truly visionary selection to usher in a new governance that could build a progressive majority for years to come. |
