Wonkette Watch

To the strains of "Southern Man", the LA Times ponders the next Dem Presidential candidate.

The concerns about the party's direction also could lift lesser-knowns such as Govs. Mark R. Warner of Virginia and Michael F. Easley of North Carolina, who are widely seen as effective communicators of a populist Democratic message in Republican-leaning states.

...Dick Harpootlian, former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, was more blunt. "As of now, Hillary Clinton's a bad idea," he said.

The standard-bearer should be a face from the South or the Midwest, he added, naming Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, this year's vice presidential nominee, or Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana as presidential possibilities.

Relentlessly overlooked - Gov. Richardson of New Mexico.

Orrin Judd has thoughts about Warner.  And I have read that Easely of North Carolina is a constitutionally weak Governor.  Well, the governor of Texas is limited, too.

But on to the Wonkette Watch!  The closing bit of wisdom from Mr. Harpootlian is here:

"You can't go to a [Democratic National Committee] meeting and have the first act be to divide up into the caucuses: the African American caucus, the Asian American caucus, the Pacific American caucus, the lesbian and gay caucus, the Native American caucus," he said. "As a white guy from South Carolina, where's my caucus? Where's the white guys' caucus?

"That defines the problem of the Democratic Party," he added. "They've got to make folks like me welcome, and make it so I don't have to take a hard swallow every time I go to a DNC meeting."

A hard swallow?  At least they are not... oh, never mind. 

Comments

[A different NJ Tom]

No hard swallows for Mr. Harpootlian, he a member of the Bill McKinney caucus!

[Brad DeLong]

Yep. Bush... Clinton... Reagan... Carter... A governor without national political experience and thus without a Washington record to be slimed and Washington enemies to leak to our lazy elite press corps. That's the ticket! Easley... Warner... maybe Vilsack if he starts swimming in the Ohio River and spending some time on its south bank... Does Richardson have too much of a national political reputation? Any enemies in Washington? Any visible record?

You say you want a candidate with a proven foreign policy record? I'm putting my fingers in my ears and I can't hear you!!

[John Thacker]

The governor of North Carolina, among other things, cannot appoint his own Cabinet. The Council of State, as they are called, is elected. This includes not just the Attorney General, elected in many states, but things like the Commissioner of Labor, the Commissioner of Agriculture, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and so on.

However, we did give the office the veto about 7 years ago. Until then, he lacked even that, unique among governors.

[John Thacker]

Mark Warner's problem, as I mentioned on the Judds' blog, is that the governor of VA, by the Virginia constitution, cannot run for a second term. His term expires in 2005. Unless he gets another office, for example knocking off Sen. George Allen (not easy) in 2006, he will have been out of politics for some time before running. That would be unusual in modern politics, especially for a non-general.

[Nathan]

Maybe it's just me, but Easley doesn't strike me as particularly presidential. Warner? Maybe.

But I'm not a Donk, so what do I know? I'm too stupid to vote.

[Brad DeLong]

Re: "what do I know? I'm too stupid to vote.--Nathan"

Please hold on to that thought through mid-November 2008...

:-)

[perfectsense]

Convert Jeb Bush into a Democrat!

[TM]

On the subject of stealth governors, take heart - when the Reps nominate Bill Owens of CO, you will be heartened to learn that, in addition to an admirable fiscal record and a legacy of eductaional reform, he is an expert on Soviet affairs. Perhaps he and Condi can swap stories about the Cold War.

Owens is a TradeSports BUY, BTW. But I thought I saw a story flicker by that he left his wife...

[Harry]

As I commented elsewhere, Warner's problem is that one of the first things he tried after election to the governorship of VA was to break his absolute insistence during the campaign that there was NO WAY he would raise taxes. Once elected, he discovered that we needed a rather large tax increase so that the state would not have to tighten its belt during the economic slow down. Of course once the tax increase was law, we "discovered" that revenue would far exceed estimates. Gee! What a surprise. I hope the DNC runs Warner on THAT record.

Of course then the GOP will have to engage in their typical nasty, mean-spirited attacks - like talking about Warner's record.

[JeffB]

Easley basically won re-election by using the state board of elections to block his opponent's advertising until the last week of the election. He then used early advertising to portray himself as more conservative than Ballantine (a little-known figure only slightly to the right of Easley). Particularly galling were his ads attacking Ballantine for voting for tax increases Easley had himself originated.

Without being able to stack the deck in his favor while receiving the blessing of a little-known opponent, Mikey would be toast on the national stage.