by Aamer Madhani
With anticipation that Sen. Barack Obama will choose his running mate soon after returning from his Hawaii vacation, there are some rumblings in the liberal blogosphere for Obama to choose someone other than Sen. Evan Bayh.
Some political prognosticators say that by picking Bayh, who was a strong supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton's run for the Democratic nomination, Obama can give a nod to angry Clinton supporters and put Indiana into play in November.
But some liberals seem to be chafing at the thought of an Obama-Bayh ticket.
In a column on the Huffington Post published today, Steve Clemons wrote that Bayh, the son of the former Indiana politician and Democratic hero Birch Bayh, would be an uninspired choice.
"In contrast to his indefatigable, passionate, and legislatively masterful father, Evan Bayh's approach to policy and politics comes off as flat and squeezes the air, sizzle, and enthusiasm out of the Obama balloon," wrote Clemons, who urged his readers to let the Obama campaign know what they think about Bayh.
The Washington Independent notes that earlier today, a new group was launched on the social networking site Facebook called "100,000 Strong Against Evan Bayh for VP.
Central to the liberal argument is that Bayh's is a centrist--relatively uknown nationally--and was also a strong backer of the war in Iraq. He was the co-chairman on the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq--a group that the presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain was also a member of.
Here is what the Facebook group had to say:
Obama's judgment about the war was the central tenet of the best arguments for his earning the Democratic nomination.
Choosing Evan Bayh, who fell hook, line, and sinker for the administration's case for a disastrous war and dragged much of our party with him, would undermine one of Obama's major advantages.
The Obama campaign will be deciding its VP in the next day or two - they may have already, but if they haven't, they are listening for feedback from people like us. This is a moment where we could really make a difference.
Let's grow this group to 100,000 in a day and send a clear message to the Obama campaign that Evan Bayh is not the right choice for Vice President.
As of 1:30 p.m., 100,000 Against Bayh had only 325 members, but the launching of such a group poses an interesting question:
Would Obama picking Bayh take the sizzle from the candidate who repeatedly reminded voters during the primaries and caucuses that he was the only one amongst the Democratic frontrunners to oppose the war from the beginning?
Posted by Aamer Madhani on August 13, 2008 1:49 PM