Sebelius as VP?

Can the Kansas governor show toughness under assault from Big Coal?

Posted by David Roberts at 3:53 PM on 17 Jan 2008

A certain faction of young progressive bloggers is fond of the notion of Barack Obama picking Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as his running mate. She is a successful, popular, progressive governor in a red state, and has shown a real talent for bringing people together to produce practical results. That would compliment Obama's core message. (Then again, she's a woman, and if this race has demonstrated anything, it's that misogyny is alive and well in America.)

What fascinates me about Sebelius is that, unlike almost any other U.S. politician, she is taking the coal industry on directly by blocking coal plants on the basis of their CO2 emissions. For her efforts, she has been attacked viciously by a coal astroturf group (and today DeSmog brings news that coal has started yet another astroturf group in the state). The case was immediately pushed to the Kansas Supreme Court.

She's going to be under withering assault for a long while, by a well-funded coal PR effort that attempts to use culture war tropes against her, portraying her as a liberal elitist that don't care about workin' folk. This is going to be a serious test of her fortitude and political savvy. If she holds up well, it would show a toughness that compliments her ecumenical appeal -- and would boost her VP bona fides, at least in my eyes.

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it doesn't matta

who Barack picks as VP, nobody votes for VP, it won't be about his VP, and it won't be another Midwestern in all likelihood.

Who McCain picks is more important, because all kudos to him and with all respect, he will be the oldest newly elected president. He knows that. His VP will be more telling. It will be a good race

by ids at 6:24 PM on 17 Jan 2008

The Bumpersticker

I just can't get past the bumpersticker.

Obama-Sebelius? The simpleminded among us (let's face it, they're the majority) would think it sounds too foreign.

Peace, kmf ___________________________________________________________________ A meal is a terrible thing to waste

by Kurt Michael Friese at 7:57 PM on 17 Jan 2008

Who it won't be...

It won't be Obama Sebelius or Clinton Sebelius, it might be Edwards Sebelius (if he stood much of a chance).

VP candidates are picked to bring in voters you won't have otherwise. Obama will need a white male to help with what will (due to racism) be his weakest constituency. Clinton would need a white male for the same reason. This is unpleasant to say, but we need to look at the attacks on Obama suggesting he is a Muslim, and the attacks on Clinton which approach a viciousness rarely seen and due to the fact that she is perceived to be a strong woman.

Both will look for a white male who can carry a state they need and might have trouble with otherwise. The ideal would be a Democratic Governor (not a Senator) from Texas (none) or Ohio (Strickland could be a good pick for either one of them) or any other large state that could tip the red/blue balance.

Sebelius is a nice lady, but this isn't her year.

patrick in Beijing

by bookerly at 8:21 PM on 17 Jan 2008

I'm thinking Obama-Webb

or Clinton-Webb...except that I'd be sorry to pull Webb from the Senate.

But who better than a Southern military tough guy to balance the ticket. And he doesn't take any crap, either, and God knows we need Democrats like that.

Or howzabout Obama-Warner or Clinton-Warner? Same white bread Virginia vibe. It could work.

by GreenMom at 9:44 PM on 17 Jan 2008

PS -- Mark Warner, just to clarify

I hope you know I mean MARK Warner, not John Warner. The Democratic former governor, NOT the retiring Republican Senator.

All those Virginians have the same names, don't you know...

by GreenMom at 9:49 PM on 17 Jan 2008

big coal in Kansas

so glad to see folks picking up on this story - hopefully the more people who do, the better chances Kansans have of finding out more about the Alliance for Sound Energy Policy.

Another story most folks haven't heard about yet - I didn't see it make any of our local papers, although CEP did post about it on our blog - on Monday, some entity distributed climate change skeptic Fred Singer's new book Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years to the boxes of Kansas state legislators. We haven't been able to find out who that entity was.

Even the Bush administration now accepts the scientific findings about climate change, and is presumably negotiating in good faith on emissions reductions at the international level. It's quite scary that anyone could actually ask Kansas legislators to move in such the opposite direction of their president - and really, the rest of the world.

thanks again for following this story. We appreciate it.

Maril Hazlett, Ph.D. Research Director http://www.climateandenergy.org hazlett@climateandenergy.org

by hzclimate at 6:41 AM on 18 Jan 2008

A perfect match

I think some of the naysayers have it wrong. Sebelius would be a perfect match for Obama. As someone else mentioned, the selection is made to bring in voters the candidate hasn't reached. The woman voter will be disappointed that they won't have a woman Prez, so they would vote for ticket with a woman VP in hoards. Like bees to honey. She would bring a ton of Rep women to the ticket.

by buck1400 at 3:01 PM on 04 Feb 2008

ADVERTISING POLICY

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