Politics

As the days wind down to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, people are growing more and more curious about who Obama will select for the VP role. Moreover, my friends have even been debating when Obama will announce and which possible days would make the bigger headlines. We set a friendly wager, each selecting a candidate and announcement day, and sit on the edges of our seats, waiting for Obama’s announcement.

“He has to announce on the 19th,” one of my friends declared. “He gets back from vacation in Hawaii over the weekend, he’ll meet with the VP on Monday, and will announce Tuesday. It’s a sure bet.” However, this friend went with more of an underdog for his choice of candidate: General Wes Clark. Originally slated as a top contender for VP, his comments stating that McCain’s war record wasn’t enough to qualify him as president, took him out of the running in many people’s minds.

“Biden on the 20th,” another friend suggested. Joe Biden, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, would bring to the job the foreign policy experience people say Obama lacks. Having been in the Senate nearly four decades, however, choosing Biden for VP would go against Obama’s message of change in Washington.

With those options taken, I put my bet in for Evan Bayh on the 21st. This Indiana Senator sits on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, which could be seen as a way of countering McCain’s military experience. Bayh was also governor of Indiana, giving him executive experience, as well. I felt that his younger image would pair nicely with Obama’s youthful energy in the campaign.

Another strong contender for the Veepstakes is Tim Kaine, the Democratic governor of Virginia. He endorsed Obama early in the primary race and is also considered a “different kind of politician.” Fellow Virginian Mark Warner, Democratic candidate for Senate and former contender for VP, will give the keynote address at the Convention. This could either signal that Kaine will not be nominated veep, or it could mean that Kaine is still in the running, and Obama will focus more on Virginia this election.

The Obama campaign has announced that both Biden and Bayh will speak in Denver on Wednesday, August 27. Wednesday is the night that the vice presidential nominee will speak, and the theme is Securing America’s Future. I guess all I can do is sit, wait, and cross my fingers that I win this bet.

The U.S. Senate is likely going to see some changes. With long-serving members Pete Domenici (R-NM) and John Warner (R-VA) retiring, as well as the recent illnesses of Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Robert Byrd (D-WV), some of the Senate’s traditional voices may be replaced with younger ones. Note: Kennedy and Byrd are both holding their seats.

Now with yesterday’s indictment of Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), another recognizable member may lose his reign in the Senate. He is currently in his 7th term as a Senator and is up for re-election in November. But first, he must triumph in the Republican primary on Aug. 26, where he is battling five opponents to hold his seat.

Other retiring senators include Wayne Allard (R-CO), Larry Craig (R-ID), and Chuck Hagel (R-NE). Republicans must defend 23 seats this November, Democrats only 12.

The combination of older members — the majority of which Republican — retiring, and the youthful energy of change accompanying Senator Barack Obama’s presidential bid, it is possible that fresh voices may take over the nation’s capital come November.

What impact do you think these retirements will have on the makeup of the Senate? What about on the makeup of Washington?

It’s not unusual for presidential candidates to move closer to the center for the general election than they were for the primary, hoping to pick up votes of moderate or undecided voters. But Barack Obama’s whole campaign was about how he was a different type of politician – going against the Washington norms and bringing honesty and ingenuity to the nation’s capital.

Is Obama reverting back to standard Washington ways or does this imply that he has reached a form of post-partisan politics? Some feel that shifting views is necessary in order to be elected, which is the campaign’s primary goal. Others view it as a way to show adaptability—a means of proving that the candidate is not stubborn and stuck in his ways.

Will Obama’s “zigzag to the center,” as Bob Herbert of the New York Times referred to it, be able to pick up enough moderates to make up for the voters he turns off by changing his ways?

Will John McCain start sliding toward the middle like his opponent? Or is it likely that his views will become more conservative to appeal to the right?

Trying to bring the Democratic Party back together, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will meet today in Unity, N.H., to encourage their bases to join and elect Obama as President. Now, not only does the location for this union blatantly drill the theme into voters’ heads, it serves another symbolic purpose – both candidates received exactly 107 votes there in the January primary.

Just last night, Obama wrote Clinton a check for $2,300, the maximum amount an individual can donate to a campaign, to help make up for the millions of dollars of her own money that Clinton poured into her campaign. Though his contribution doesn’t break the bank, it symbolizes the Obama campaign’s efforts to make amends with his former rival’s – while trying to recruit the Clinton supporters to his camp.

Was this gesture enough to encourage Clinton supporters to do the reciprocal action and donate $2,300 to Obama’s campaign? Now that Obama has declined using public funds for his campaign, he must bank – pun intended – on the people who have previously thrown their weight and wallets behind Clinton.

Will a symbolic “unity” event in Unity do the trick? What do the Democrats need to do to rally the base?

Hundreds came out to mourn the loss of Tim Russert, anchor of “Meet the Press” and chief of NBC’s Washington Bureau, after he died from a heart attack last Friday. The politically elite, such as President Bush, John McCain, and Barack Obama, joined media staples and throngs of fans in honoring and remembering Russert’s work.

Acclaimed as being one of the most impartial political commentators, Russert showed up to each show on which he appeared — “Meet the Press,” “The Today Show,” and a mass of other political shows on various networks — highly researched and prepared. He asked tough but fair questions of each of his guests.

Robert Novak wrote in today’s Chicago Sun Times, “Because of Russert’s preparation, appearing on ‘Meet the Press’ was like a visit to the dentist.” Yet, that never stopped serious politicians, authors, and commentators from appearing on the show week after week.

As NBC ponders how to replace Russert in his multitude of roles, the political world keeps its fingers crossed to have someone as fair and serious as Russert was when it came to his interviews, not just a talking head looking for ratings.

Though Russert gave me the cold shoulder when I tried to talk to him at the New Hampshire primaries — which I held an unfair grudge about — I join with the rest of the public in honoring his work and the developments he made for the industry. An expert in both the media and politics, he will be sorely missed.