Courtesy of the Financial Times:

Obama running mate could come from ‘left field’

Obama officials say privately it is unlikely a running mate will be selected before the candidate returns from a week’s holiday in Hawaii, which starts this Friday. That leaves about 10 days until the start of the Democratic party convention in Denver.

…

In practice, almost nobody will know whom Mr Obama is going to select until he announces it. And that could be someone “from left field”, as one Obama staffer puts it.

Potential “left fielders” include Chuck Hagel, the dissident Republican senator, Sam Nunn, the former Democratic senator for Georgia, and Chet Edwards, a centrist Democratic congressman from Texas. “I guess Hillary would be from left field,” said the staffer. “Don’t rule anything out.”

The joke falls somewhat flat, as there is no one in the Democrat party that the label LEFT does not apply too, and even some Republicans.

In the end, as the Obamaessiah tacks to the center to win votes, the pressure to name a “true believer” from the left (as Obama himself is, in actuality) as his VP to mollify the nutroots and watermelon (enviro-whacko) crowds will be intense.

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Tags: Obama