WASHINGTON — An interesting name surfaced on a Sunday talk show in a discussion of potential vice presidential candidates.
Richard Gephardt.
On Fox News Sunday, moderator Chris Wallace asked the panel whether Barack Obama, if he wins the Democratic nomination, would be likely to choose Hillary Clinton.
After a discussion about Clinton, other names came up. One panelist mentioned Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.
Then William Kristol said added a name, “Dick Gephardt. Former Democratic leader in the Congress, very attractive to working-class Democrats.”
That’s an intriguing notion. Aside from the local interest that would spark for Missourians, Gephardt would do several things for an Obama-led ticket.
-He’d create an immediate bridge to a key constituency that Obama has had trouble attracting: working-class voters, including Reagan Democrats, who will be critical in the key battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania. No name carries more weight and instant credibility in blue-collar circles than that of Dick Gephardt; only Sen. Ted Kennedy comes close.
-He’d add experience and familiarity with how Washington works to the ticket, balancing Obama’s youth and brief involvement in national politics, while at the same time not bringing the drag of a sitting insider.
-Gephardt would also bring an unusual depth of knowledge about the details of policy from economic to foreign policy issues, complementing Obama’s tendency to engage in broad talk about change with few specifics.
-As a campaigner, Gephardt has an easy-going, midwestern manner that wears well — similar to Obama — while at the same time possessing the ability to fire up a crowd of steelworkers or truck drivers like nobody’s business.
One downside: while Strickland might bring Ohio along, and other possible nominees would help with their own states, St. Louisan Gephardt would provide less help in the swing state of Missouri, where he’s adored by Democrats and urban voters but disliked by Republicans and many rural residents.
But if Obama wants to reach out to those elusive working-class voters, who might be tempted to go for John McCain, there’d be no better choice than Gephardt.