Cheese on the Ticket?
Freedom Eden and Josh Schroeder have both weighed in this week on Barack Obama's Veep search, how it might affect Wisconsin's own Senator Russ Feingold, and how that might affect Wisconsin and the U.S. Senate.
Which is to say: they think Feingold might be the guy, and they're relatively pleased with the idea.
Josh writes:
Repeat: Governor Doyle would not get to appoint a replacement. We'd hold a special election sometime in 2009 to replace Feingold, and then the winner would have to run again in 2010.
So Josh is right.
Both Mary and Josh are also right that Feingold would bring Wisconsin into Obama’s column.
Whether his extremely liberal legislative record would help Obama or not...I'm not so sure. And then there’s all those nice things he said about McCain last week, and his dogged support of Hillary Clinton during the primary.
Oh, sure, maybe that could be a strong point for him. Maybe he said those nice things about McCain with Obama's blessing, so they can get back to that “new kind of politics” Obama used to tout - y’know, plant their flag on the higher ground - and throw Clinton's supporters a bone at the same time.
But that sounds just a little too clever to be true. It sounds like something a pundit searching for something to write about would imagine.
I, of course, welcome speculation about a Feingold pick because I've been speculating about a Cheesehead on the ticket for a long, long time (see: here, here, here, here, and here).
And even if Feingold isn't even on Obama's long, long list, well, I did see this headline today: A MCCAIN-THOMPSON TICKET? Well, possibly.
But that was the wrong Thompson.
Which is to say: they think Feingold might be the guy, and they're relatively pleased with the idea.
Josh writes:
I want Obama to pick Feingold for the same reason I wanted him to pick Claire McCaskill (her prospects look unlikely): if the Democrats win, it's an opportunity to fill the new VP's vacated Senate seat with a conservative, or at least a Republican.Now: the 17th Amendment gives state legislatures some leeway on how to handle U.S. Senate vacancies. According to Wisconsin state law (ss. 8.50), Governor Doyle does not get to appoint.
Repeat: Governor Doyle would not get to appoint a replacement. We'd hold a special election sometime in 2009 to replace Feingold, and then the winner would have to run again in 2010.
So Josh is right.
Both Mary and Josh are also right that Feingold would bring Wisconsin into Obama’s column.
Whether his extremely liberal legislative record would help Obama or not...I'm not so sure. And then there’s all those nice things he said about McCain last week, and his dogged support of Hillary Clinton during the primary.
Oh, sure, maybe that could be a strong point for him. Maybe he said those nice things about McCain with Obama's blessing, so they can get back to that “new kind of politics” Obama used to tout - y’know, plant their flag on the higher ground - and throw Clinton's supporters a bone at the same time.
But that sounds just a little too clever to be true. It sounds like something a pundit searching for something to write about would imagine.
I, of course, welcome speculation about a Feingold pick because I've been speculating about a Cheesehead on the ticket for a long, long time (see: here, here, here, here, and here).
And even if Feingold isn't even on Obama's long, long list, well, I did see this headline today: A MCCAIN-THOMPSON TICKET? Well, possibly.
But that was the wrong Thompson.
posted by Lance Burri @ 7:14 PM
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