Open veep selection thread

Matt Drudge says that everyone will know the identity of Kerry’s VP pick tomorrow:

Kerry intends to begin calling the major candidates in contention around 7 a.m. Tuesday to give them the news of his choice… Kerry’s aides reported placards had been printed with three versions of the Democratic ticket: Kerry-Edwards, Kerry-Gephardt and Kerry-Vilsack, though they acknowledged that Kerry could still surprise even them with a different selection… Kerry will appear at a big morning rally in Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh and announce choice at 9 a.m. Tuesday, before flying to Indianapolis.

Combining this AP report with ABC’s The Note, I’d have to give the inside edge to Edwards, but really, who the hell knows? Feel free to comment on the possibilities here. Beyond what I said about Gephardt before, I can’t resist quoting Matthew Yglesias here:

In general Gephardt will give the GOP about seventeen million new votes to scrutinize for further flip-flops and differences with Kerry’s. Also — people hate him. Also — no one likes him. I’m not saying that if Kerry picks Gephardt that then all of a sudden voting for Bush becomes a good idea, but picking Gephardt is a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad idea and choosing that bad idea will reflect badly on Kerry. There’s no getting around that.

UPDATE: Kerry picks Edwards — get your talking points here!!: PRO-KERRY:

Props to the Senator for choosing his most formidable rival for the nominattion, as well as someone he was visibly uncomfortable with just a few months ago. It shows a healthy ego on Kerry’s part.

In the Internet age, Kerry actually managed to prevent his decision from leaking — an impressive feat. Added bonus for Dems — the New York Post has massive amounts of egg on its face.

The contrast with Cheney in a debate will probably help the donkey ticket. The knock on him is that he lacks experience and that the contrast with Cheney merely highlights this fact. However, this lowers expectations in a one-on-one with the VP — and there’s no way Edwards could do worse than Joe Lieberman in 2000. So, post-debate, Edwards wins!

Seriously, who else among the picks was gonna be better on the stump or gibe a better speech at the convention?

PRO-BUSH:

Props to Kerry — he picked the cute protectionist who promotes class warfare over the ugly, robotic protectionist who promotes class warfare.

Kerry’s first choice was McCain — which says that a) the depth of the Democratic bench ain’t that great; and b) Kerry’s belief that McCain was a live possibility does not demonstrate the strongest political acumen

Trial lawyer!! Trial Lawyer!! TRIAL LAWYER!!! [Isn’t that a bit stale?–ed. Not to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.]

FOR EXPERT COMMENTATORS ONLY:

The Edwards pick shows the diminishing returns of “regional” picks. Edwards probably won’t bring a lot of Southern states with him — but he probably plays better with swing voters across the country than Kerry’s other options.

If Kerry wins, it will be a historic reversal of the Vice President’s role. Since 1988, Vice Presidents have inserted themselves more and more into the policy process, culminating with Richard Cheney. While Edwards would obviously have some influence, it wouldn’t be at the level of Cheney’s portfolio.

If Kerry wins, this will echo Clinton’s choice of Al Gore. If he loses, it will echo Dukakis’ choice of Lloyd Bentsen.

Look for the Kerry team to play up the Kennedy echo during the campaign — the Democratic ticket again consists of two sitting U.S. Senators, one from Massachusetts and one from south of the Mason-Dixon line.

LAST UPDATE: Robert G. Kaiser led an interesting online disacussion on washingtonpost.com on the Edwards pick that’s worth checking out. This point was particularly interesting:

I think the degree to which young voters can be mobilized this year is a key to Kerry’s chances. Battleground polls, particularly the well-respected Ohio Poll, show that 18-25 (or is it 18-30?) year old voters heavily favor Kerry so far. If that holds, and if chosing Edwards encourages it, then obviously Kerry would benefit enormously from a big turnout of young voters.