Daschle Redux

This is in response to a reader comment on the previous Daschle post.

First, I do think that Biden and Kaine, or even Sebelius have a greater chance of being picked as Obama’s running mate than Daschle. But Daschle and (to a lesser extent) Clinton are wild cards whose nomination would produce a big surprise, and carry a few news cycles by keeping the chattering class, well, chattering. For a campaign that is notoriously tightlipped and uber-disciplined, this surprise would also represent a coup of sorts.

Now to answer the concerns raised in the comment – Daschle’s biggest strength is that he is liked, trusted, and respected by Obama. This is exactly the kind of person that Michelle Obama and Daschle himself have recommended for Obama. He is reliable and not gaffe-prone (like Biden). He has experience and is generally well liked.

Daschle is not likely to bring much in terms of electoral votes, perhaps a bump in the Dakotas and some appeal to moderates in the Midwest.

But running mates don’t always help carry states and often times, they are not even chosen with that intention. (See Edwards and Cheney.) Besides, the only candidates that could clearly help carry a specific state are Mark Warner (VA), Hillary Clinton (AR), and Bill Richardson (NM). Bayh, Biden (in PA), and Kaine could help but whatever they add to the margin is not guaranteed to tip the balance.

As for Daschle losing his senate race in SD, there is definitely a psychological impact. How much weight that would carry in Obama’s decision-making, though, is unclear. Daschle lost in a Republican state in a very Republican year, as one of the faces of the Democratic Party. The circumstances are certainly different today.