My choice for our next vice president is Wesley Clark.
Here are two reasons why:
- A retired general, he’s got more real military leadership credentials than either McCain or Obama and he’s not a “shoot first and ask questions later” sort of guy.
- In addition, he supported Hillary Clinton early in the race which could help assuage her supporters to vote for the Obama ticket.
As far as military (and other credentials), Colin Powell is a stronger pick for Obama (…and since the Repubs. essentially threw Powell under the bus, he needs to restore his place in history, ending his illustrious career on a high note).
Powell isn’t really that better of a choice than Clark for a stupid reason: race. Clark’s white and Obama needs to do something like pick a white running mate to assuage the fears of a lot of folks out there (I’m looking towards you, West Virginia).
Powell also isn’t a good choice for a less stupid reason: he’s the guy who took the Iraq case to the U.N. I think Powell needs something to set him apart from that before he can be looked at as a trustworthy public figure. Had he stood up and been fired for not playing along with the whole Iraq case he’d be someone’s VP or even Presidential candidate right now.