[Drew]

Clinton or Obama? For McCain, vastly different challenges



I'll say once again that pairing Obama with someone like Richardson or Biden will go a LONG way to taking his inexperience out of play...

[noodles]

"Look, I don't care who it is," McCain said to cheers at a recent campaign rally in Villa Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb. "I'm going to beat either one of them like a drum. That's what I'm going to do. . . . I'm going to beat 'em right here in Illinois. I want to assure you of that."

Old man, Obama would WAX you in his home state.

This article doesn't touch on two very interesting points about an Obama/McCain matchup. First, Obama has not been doing well with the Latino voters. Meanwhile, McCain's moderate policies on immigration have made him quite appealing. This could be enough to flip the Latino vote back to the GOP. On the other hand, Obama has been crushing in the deep south with the young white male and black vote, bringing out new voters in record numbers. The activity in the primaries show the Democrats are getting twice the turnout. Without a traditional conservative as the nominee, the GOP could be in danger of losing some states that are generally considered a shoe in.

This all goes back to the importance of the running mate, as you were suggesting. Obama needs a Democrat with experience and respect, while McCain needs a traditional conservative who is loved by the religious right. Essentially, both will be driving for the votes in the middle, which means the VP candidates will have to be the ones that work on picking up the party line voters.

Either way, McCain will be a formidible opponent. His angering of the traditional conservative guard plays right to the moderate vote, and the man is a war hero. Edwards would have a far better chance against him, being a moderate himself. I think it is no coincedence that Obama ended his speech last night with a thinly veiled call to fight poverty--the cornerstone of Edwards' campaign. I see this as nothing less than an appeal to Edwards for his endorsement. Still, I agree that Biden is the better choice, since Edwards would make one hell of an AG.

[Drew]

Great post, Dave!