Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential candidates, 2008

This article lists individuals who were potential Democratic candidates for Vice President of the United States in the 2008 election prior to the selection of Joe Biden by the party's nominee Barack Obama. After he became the Democratic presumptive nominee on June 3, 2008,^[1] Obama formed a small committee, made up of Jim Johnson, Eric Holder and Caroline Kennedy, to help him select a running mate.^[2][3][4] Johnson announced he would step down from the vice-presidential vetting position on June 11, 2008 in order to avoid being a distraction to Obama's campaign.^[5]

Vice-presidential nominee

Biden and Obama in Springfield, Illinois after Biden's formal introduction as the running mate

Main article: Joe Biden presidential campaign, 2008#Obama–Biden campaign 2008

On August 23, 2008, via text message, the Obama campaign reported that the then-presumptive Democratic nominee chose Joe Biden as his vice-presidential running mate.^[6]

Short list candidates

Media near where Joe Biden was residing during speculation that he may be the Democratic nominee for Vice President.

Various news sources had listed persons thought to be on Senator Obama's short list for Vice President.

• Delaware Senator Joe Biden^[7]
• Indiana Senator Evan Bayh^[7]
• Virginia Governor Tim Kaine^[8]
• Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius^[8]
• New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson^[7]
• Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed^[8]
• Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd^[9]

Initial candidates

Fellow contenders for 2008 nomination

• Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York^[7]
• Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico^[7]
• Senator Joe Biden of Delaware^[7]

Governors

• Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia^[8]
• Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania^[7]
• Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas^[8]
• Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana^[10]

Senators

• Senator and former Governor Evan Bayh of Indiana^[7]
• Former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia^[11]
• Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island^[8]

Other political figures

• U.S. Representative Chet Edwards of Texas^[12]
• Retired Army General Wesley Clark of Arkansas^[7]
• Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee, 2000 Democratic presidential nominee^[13]
• USMC General James L. Jones of Missouri^[8]

Denied interest

• Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.^[14]
• Former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee.^[15]
• Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio^[16]
• Former Governor Mark Warner of Virginia^[17]
• Senator Jim Webb of Virginia^[18][19]

Final list

In the final days leading up to the Democratic National Convention, four individuals were left on Obama's final list for Vice President.

• Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware
• Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana
• Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia
• Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas

On August 22, the eve of Obama's scheduled unveiling of his running mate, NBC News reported that Sen. Evan Bayh and Gov. Tim Kaine were informed that they were not chosen.^[20] Last minute controversy emerged as it was learned that Sen. Hillary Clinton was never vetted for the position, when it was earlier thought that Sen. Barack Obama would consider her as he previously stated in various private and public reports.^[21] This led to several questions as to whether Clinton supporters would feel betrayed and would defuse the intensity in "dream ticket" scenarios.

That night, ABC News reported that the U.S. Secret Service had assumed protection of Biden, which was seen as a sign that he had been chosen as Obama's running mate.^[22] Just hours later, the Associated Press broke the news that Democratic Party officials had confided that Obama had in fact selected Biden as the vice-presidential nominee.^[23]

Candidates gallery

• 

  Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana

• 

  Senator Joe Biden of Delaware

• 

  Retired General Wesley Clark of Arkansas

• 

  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York

• 

  Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut

• 

  Representative Chet Edwards of Texas

• 

  Former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina

• 

  Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska

• 

  Retired General James L. Jones of Missouri

• 

  Former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia

• 

  Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island

• 

  Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania

• 

  Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico

• 

  Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana

• 

  Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas

See also

• Republican Party (United States) vice-presidential candidates, 2008
• Democratic Party (United States) presidential candidates, 2008

References

1. ^ "RealClearPolitics - 2008 Elections - Democratic Delegate Count". Realclearpolitics.com. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/democratic_delegate_count.html. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 
2. ^ "vice president - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com". Thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/vice-president/2008/05/22/. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 
3. ^ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aOyXeU0jfK_4&refer=home
4. ^ See "Obama VP Vetter Tied to Controversial Mortgage Crisis", http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/06/obama-vp-vetter.html?loc=interstitialskip, USA Today, 9 June 2008
5. ^ John Broder (2008-06-12). "Obama Aide Quits Under Fire for His Business Ties". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/us/politics/12veep.html?scp=21&sq=%22jim%20johnson%22&st=cse. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
6. ^ "Barack Obama | Change We Can Believe In | Share your personal welcome note". My.barackobama.com. http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/welcomejoe?source=feature_biden. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Barrett, Ted (June 10, 2008). "Obama VP team discusses 20 possible picks". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/10/obama.vp/. Retrieved 2008-06-10. 
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Kane, Murray, Paul, Shailagh (June 10, 2008). "The '08 Veep Tour Begins". Washington Post. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/10/the_08_veep_tour_begins.html. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
9. ^ Jeff Zeleny And Jim Rutenberg (Published: August 23, 2008). "In Obama’s Choice, a ‘Very Personal Decision’ - NYTimes.com". Nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/us/politics/24deconstruct.html?scp=5&sq=bill%20richardson&st=cse. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 
10. ^ "Obama's VP Short List". Zimbio. July 25, 2008. http://www.zimbio.com/Election+2008,+The+Veepstakes/articles/7/Obama+s+VP+Short+List. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
11. ^ McCaffrey, Shannon (June 3, 2008). "Sam Nunn: If asked, I'd consider being vice president". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. http://web.archive.org/web/20080607004203/http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/06/03/nunn_vice_president.html. Retrieved 2008-06-10. 
12. ^ Smith, Ben (June 24, 2008). "Pelosi floats Edwards". Politico. http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/Pelosi_floats_Edwards.html. Retrieved 2008-08-20. 
13. ^ Hemmer, Bill (March 28, 2008). "Is Gore-Obama Ticket a Possibility?". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,342729,00.html. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
14. ^ Wright, David (February 26, 2008). "Dodd Endorses Obama, Rules Out Veepstakes". ABC News. http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/01/31/cq_2214.html. Retrieved 2008-06-10. 
15. ^ Rhee, Foon (May 17, 2008). "Edwards rules out possibility of vice-presidential run with Obama". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/05/17/edwards_rules_out_possibility_of_vice_presidential_run_with_obama/. Retrieved 2008-06-10. 
16. ^ Montanaro, Domenico, Murray, Mark, Todd, Chuck (June 11, 2008). "Veepstakes: Strick says no thanks". MSNBC. http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/11/1130821.aspx/. Retrieved 2008-06-26. 
17. ^ Kumar, Anita, Craig, Tim (June 15, 2008). "Mark Warner Rejects VP Talk, Wants Senate Seat". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/14/AR2008061401831.html?hpid=topnews. Retrieved 2008-06-26. 
18. ^ "The Page - by Mark Halperin - TIME". Thepage.time.com. July 7, 2008. http://thepage.time.com/2008/07/07/cross-webb-off-obama-veep-list/. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 
19. ^ Broder, John M. (2008-07-07). "In Case You Ask: Webb Declines Veep Role". The New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/in-case-you-ask-webb-declines-veep-role/. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
20. ^ "Sources: Bayh, Kaine out of Obama VP race - Barack Obama News - MSNBC.com". Msnbc.msn.com. August 22, 2008. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26336195/. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 
21. ^ Mike Allen. "Hillary gets stiffed - Politico.com Print View". Dyn.politico.com. http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=EB0D720F-18FE-70B2-A89836AC470A50AD. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 
22. ^ Time, CNN, NYT (August 22, 2008). "Political Punch". Blogs.abcnews.com. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/08/us-secret-servi.html. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 
23. ^ "McCain taps Alaska governor for VP - Yahoo! News". News.yahoo.com. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/veepstakes;_ylt=AjGbUgn_I1l0zlRhA3K64_ms0NUE. Retrieved 2008-09-05. ^{[dead link]}