Bill Bradley as Vice-President: A Strong Choice for Obama, but Not for Clinton
Barack Obama and Bill Bradley: Celebrity Status
Popular Appeal: As a potential Vice-President, Bill Bradley would have the same rock star appeal that Obama enjoys. Yet while Obama is popular with young voters, Bill Bradley still has popular appeal with older voters who remember his days in the New York Knicks.
Experience: As a potential Vice-President, Bill Bradley would bring a sense of experience and pragmatism to the Obama ticket. While Obama is more known for his inspiring speeches, Bill Bradley had a reputation as a "policy wonk."1 During his twenty years in the Senate, he had a proven record on tax policy reform, child support legislation, and federal budget reform. While he enjoys popular appeal with basketball fans, he may also draw in policy-oriented voters who tend to vote on substance.
Platform: As a potential vice-president, Bill Bradley is a very liberal Democrat, more liberal than Hillary Clinton or Al Gore. Bill Bradley has been a strong proponent of universal health care, gun control, and campaign finance reform. Conventional wisdom suggests that Obama should choose a more moderate vice-president, but I don't think it would be a problem in Obama's case. Obama, in spite of his populist platform, already seems to have a stronghold on moderate voters. Bill Bradley has also shown himself capable of breaking ranks with his party when he needed to. In 1981, he supported Reagan's cuts on spending, an indication that he may be able to work with people from other parties.1
Vice-President Bill Bradley would be the best of both worlds for Obama-celebrity status combined with a policy-oriented mindset.
Hillary Clinton and Bill Bradley: A Terrible Match
The Anti-Establishment Candidate: In 2000, Bill Bradley contended for the Democratic nomination against Vice-President Gore. He was the Democratic counterpart to McCain-the maverick outsider. As vice-president under Hillary Clinton, he would be a disaster. He was the anti-establishment candidate in 2000. He would not work well with Hillary Clinton, who in the eyes of many voters, is the establishment.
Bradley endorses Obama: Bradley has openly endorsed Obama, saying "there is a difference between a leader and a manager. He's a leader. He has a vision."2 Hillary Clinton would be ill-advised to choose a vice-president who has openly endorsed her opponent.
Demographics: As potential Vice-President, Bill Bradley is a 64 year-old liberal New Jersey senator and former New York Knicks player. Hillary Clinton is a 60 year-old liberal New York senator. From a demographic standpoint, Vice-president Bill Bradley would not add to the Clinton ticket.
Platform: If Hillary Clinton wants to win in November, she needs a moderate or conservative vice-president to attract the moderate and swing voters. Bill Bradley, who ran to the left of Vice-President Al Gore in 2000, is not her ideal choice for Vice-President.
The verdict
While potential Vice-President Bill Bradley would be a boon for the Obama ticket, he would be a disaster as Hillary Clinton's vice-president.
Sources
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bradley
2 http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/01/bill-bradley-ba.html
Published by Tina Molly Lang - Featured Contributor in Arts & Entertainment and Lifestyle
Tina Molly Lang is a violinist, violin, piano, and voice teacher. She is also an active writer. Her work has been published in The American Thinker, Active Americans, Yahoo's OMG! and Yahoo News. View profile
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- Bill Bradley ran to the left of Vice-President Gore in 2000.
- Vice-President Bill Bradley's policy-oriented mindset would complement Obama's rock star appeal.
- Bill Bradley, as the anti-establishment candidate, would not work well with Hillary Clinton.
38 Comments
Post a Commentobama need to pick a woman like cliton because men always over every thing let a woman stand for the u.s. nation
i am only 13
i think bill bradely would be good and hillary cliton
Bradley would be an excellent choice. He brings experience, will attract older voters, he is very trustworthy and likable, and he would help carry the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania electorate. Plus, there's the Princeton connection. Both Bradley and Michelle Obama's brother were star basketball players for Princeton (oh yeah...also my alma mater). Obama is also a basketball player. Bradley was an early endorser of Obama and he has been staying in the ring with recently published books. His platform lines up very well with Obama. Bradley is a very logical choice. I'd give up 4 months of my work as a busy physician to actively campaign for an Obama-Bradley ticket.
Solid writing and I enjoyed reading. But I think Bradley would add no excitement to anyone's ticket. He's had his run, so to speak. I don't care very much for Obama and don't trust him. I would take issue with your opinion that Obama "seems to have a stronghold on moderate voters." I know this was written before the Pennsylvania primaries (and PA is a blue state) but Obama's about as far off the middle as you can get. Hillary is more centrist and I think she's doing better as many people begin to look at her independently from her husband's administration. It's not exactly progressive to look at a woman's qualifications in terms of "what does your husband do?" I know Hillary's no shrinking violet but then neither is Danica Patrick. Do we need shrinking violets as President? I don't think so...
Obama would truly suck as president. He is a crooked man. People need to wake up and see that. Oh, are so many in the dark.
Thanks for the well-thought out analysis.
This is a wonderful analysis. You really put this together very well. I didn't know much about "possible" candidates but this has given me some insight. Thank you, thank you.
wow, interesting comments here!
Hmmph. I just hope Obama doesn't get to run. I think that he is more electable than Hilary but I actually trust him even less. He has a horrible voting record in the senate and really no history of doing anything. His plans sound wonderful and so does his advertising BUT he has taken money from Big Business. If Harpo Enterprises isn't a big business, I don't know what is. I don't see Obama as an effective leader and don't know the history of Bill Bradleu to comment. Unlike "jack smith" (OMG what an unusual original name) I don't think that Bill fixed squat. The econony was going down the pooper by the time he left office. 911 Shoved it down further and had he acted on information at the time it wouldn't have happened.
While I don't agree with his politics, I think it would be an exciting choice.