Barack Obama should pick a progressive as his running mate

BE-ELECTED
by Chad Rubel

Yesterday came and went, and Barack Obama didn't select a vice presidential nominee. And that person, at least for the moment, wasn't Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), despite the rumors.

In perhaps the best-kept secret since "Who Shot J.R.?", we still have no clue who Obama will pick. But if Bayh's name was leaked to see the reaction, it wasn't all that positive, especially in the progressive world.

If this was a leak, hopefully Obama and his top campaign advisors got a taste of what might happen from the base if Obama picks someone who isn't progressive.

(And yes, the usual disclaimer: BuzzFlash will support the vice presidential nominee, whomever Obama picks. We assume in this disclaimer that it won't be Sen. Joe Lieberman. But we will support whomever that is.)

But this is about helping Obama win in November, and the strong belief that the best way to go for a running mate is to pick someone who is progressive. If there is some credibility to this CBS News survey, 30 percent said that the choices of their vice presidential running mates will have a great deal of influence on their decision. And the 2008 equivalent of Lieberman will seriously hurt Obama.

And I'm not the only one. The People For the American Way have an online petition asking Obama to pick a progressive as his running mate.

In my lifetime, I've grown weary of this "moving to the center" mentality for VP nominees, mostly because it doesn't work. The moves upset the base and don't attract a whole lot of people, a lose-lose situation.

Obama has done a few things since becoming the presumptive nominee to move to the center, including his vote on FISA and his reversal on offshore drilling. Whether that will work in November remains to be seen, but it's not a good sign. Voters like Obama in part because they feel like he stands for something, if only he would stay still on these issues.

Vice presidents can energize the base. This may seem difficult to believe, but Republicans were wary in 2000 about George W. Bush since they were worried he would take after his father and not be conservative enough. When Dick Cheney was picked as the running mate, the conservative base felt better about Bush since Cheney was on the ticket.

Obama can do for the progressives. Sure he will take his shots from the pundits, since they want Obama to move to the center. But the pundits aren't going to vote for Obama; the people are. And giving them a progressive candidate will bring energy to the ticket.

Obama needs to educate the American public about where Democrats and progressives stand on the issues. Progressives know, but the general public doesn't. And Obama needs that person, in the #2 slot, to be a true believer to the cause, someone to the left perhaps as far as Cheney is to the right. The voters need a clear choice in November: John McCain -- more of the same, more of Bush policies -- or Barack Obama -- a new change, a new direction. A progressive or left-leaning vice president who won't be trapped in the wishy-washy center is exactly what Obama needs as a running mate.  

On the "Colbert Report" last night, Kevin Costner said true leadership is taking people where they don't want to go. There is a trust with Barack Obama that the American people are willing to follow him, but he has to go in a strong direction. A centrist VP will show weakness, a progressive VP will show strength. And that strength is just what Obama needs - the major opportunity for a presidential candidate to show true leadership.

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