RKR Poll Results: Who Should be Obama’s VP?

Above is a handy pie chart showing the proportional results of the Roadkill Refugee Poll on “Who should be Obama’s VP, if he wins the nomination?” Jim Webb won narrowly over three who tied for second place: Al Gore, Bill Richardson and Kathleen Sebelius. (I don’t pretend this is a statistically valid poll, but it is an interesting snapshot of data).

Note that “Other” technically came in first place. But within the Other category were votes for Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Dave Chappelle and Chuck Norris. (Surprisingly, there were no write-in votes for Eliot Spitzer or Larry Craig.)

This poll seems to say more about who Obama shouldn’t pick than who he should pick. If those advocating Hillary think she will be a safe, consensus pick that will reunite the Democratic party after a divisive primary season, her lack of support here suggests that this assumption is false. Similarly, “safe” choices like John Edwards and Al Gore seem to lack overwhelming support. Perhaps in a “change” election, folks are truly looking for new leadership. The conventional wisdom is if you have someone fairly new to Washington at the top of the ticket like Obama, you should pair him with an insider (see, e.g., Bush/Cheney). Having said that, it seems that there is strong interest in folks with some combination of executive, military or foreign policy experience, like Webb, Sebelius, Richardson and Gore.

My own view is that there will indeed be a need to bring the entire Democratic Party together with enthusiasm and energy, assuming Obama wins, in order to defeat McCain. Hillary’s core support is strongest among older voters and women. If my wife is any measure, I don’t think Webb is going to create enormous enthusiasm among women voters. Not only is he relatively unknown, he has a rough edge about him, which is probably part of what makes him popular among male voters. He’s also relatively new to political office, although not to Washington — having served in the military and as Reagan’s Secretary of the Navy. But he’s not the kind of established popular insider that will immediately attract older voters. I realize Richardson is well liked, has a great resume, helps in the critical Southwest region and among Latino voters nationally, but the reality is he didn’t attract many votes in the primaries, he has terrible message discipline and conveys an almost goofy quality — as if you poked him in the belly he’d react like the Pillsbury dough boy.

I’m still leaning towards Gore. Gore remains very popular among older voters and women voters, he pulls in the Clinton loyalists, he has a great resume, and he’s had a great post-vice presidency over the last 8 years. His leadership on climate change has been validated increasing evidence. The GOP would try to spin Obama/Gore as a very liberal ticket, but that’s a standard attack that should have less currency in a year where George Bush and his neocon policies have cellar-dwelling approval ratings.

Congratulations, Senator Webb. But don’t let it go to your head, ok?