It would be a huge hit among the chattering classes and might help Kerry w/ some swing voters but it would be at the peril of driving away the left wingers who would have serious issues w/ Nunn's corporate work and his voting record. The GOP should be preparing the commercials now --
We welcome Sen. Kerry's choice of his runningmate, Sen. Nunn. He has served his nation well over several decades and since leaving the Senate he has served quite ably on boards of some of the largest multinational companies in the world, including Chevron.
We also welcome the choice of Sen. Nunn as a validation of Pres. Bush's policies as there is very little to distinguish Sen. Nunn's views and those of the President's regard a strong US foreign policy.
You and I both see this the same way. Its my pet theory the Democratic Party isn't a "political party" as we know it, but a fragile coalition of various minority viewpoints. They are already a shrinking political "group" as the past decade has demonstrated. Not just with the loss of the House after four decades, but at the local and state levels. Membership is down, contributions aren't what McAufile suggested they would be four years ago.
In short, they can't afford to "offend" any single part of this "fragile coalition" mascarading as a viable political party in the traditional sense.
Which is why I think Gephardt is the only choice at the end of the day. He's not a trial lawyer, like Edwards, which would kill Kerry's rants about Health Care Costs. He's not a oil man ala Nunn, nor a warmonger as some on the left have viewed Nunn quietly out of camera and reporter range.
And Gephardt literally has nothing to lose at this point in his political career. Even if Kerry gets creamed in November, Gephardt would cement his stature for "fighting the good fight" and that plays well into his future as a leftwing lobbiest.
We tried that with Lieberman in 2000-- regarding his record opposite from Gore's-- to no benefit. As I just posted, I think Kerry's polling says that liberals are willing to hold their noses just so they can laugh their asses off at a Bush-Cheney defeat-- as evidenced by his absolute and sincere interest in a Kerry-McCain ticket.