Posted on 06/10/2008 11:26:35 AM PDT by Red Steel
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama is considering former top military leaders among his possible running mates, according to a senator who met Tuesday with the Democratic presidential candidate's vice presidential vetting team.
North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad told The Associated Press said the team asked him about potential candidates from three broad categories _ current top elected officials, former top elected officials and former top military leaders.
Conrad would not disclose which names they discussed, and the Obama campaign has been keeping the process a closely guarded secret.
"We talked about many names," Conrad said, including "some that are out of the box, but I think would be very well-received by the American people, including former top military leaders."
A running mate from the military ranks could help address concerns that Obama lacks foreign policy experience, having served just three years in the Senate. It could also provide a counterpoint to the military bonafides of the Republican ticket, which will be led by Vietnam war hero John McCain.
Obama has a three-person team managing the vetting process that includes one-time first daughter Caroline Kennedy, former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and Jim Johnson, the former CEO of mortgage lender Fannie Mae.
The vetters have been holding meetings with several Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill to get their input. Conrad met with Holder and Johnson.
"I sensed from this meeting that they are still very much building the list and at the same time evaluating possibilities," Conrad said. "It's very clear they have reached no conclusions, not even tentative conclusions."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland also met with Johnson and Holder. He also would not disclose names they discussed, but said he advised that any presidential candidate should tap for his No. 2 "someone they feel comfortable with, someone who they believe is qualified in the event they could not serve out the balance of their term for whatever reason, and someone whom they believe will be helpful as they campaign to be elected. And I think Mr. Obama will do that."
Many former military leaders have been involved in the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign. Some of Obama's most prominent campaign advisers have been retired Gen. Tony McPeak, who was Air Force chief of staff during Operation Desert Storm; retired Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, who flew repeated combat missions and has worked with Obama on a range of military issues since before he began his presidential campaign; and Richard Danzig, who was secretary of the Navy under President Clinton.
He might also look at some of former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's top military advisers in a gesture of unity, retired generals who include Hugh Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; or Wesley Clark, who led the war in Kosovo and sought the Democratic presidential nomination four years ago. Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, who served as Navy secretary under President Reagan, has also been frequently mentioned as a possible running mate.
NBC News reported that one name being discussed is retired Gen. James Jones, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.
Campaigning in St. Louis, Obama was asked about criticism from McCain of Johnson, who received loans from Countrywide Financial Corp. with the help of the firm's chief executive, Angelo Mozilo. Countrywide is part of a federal investigation in the midst of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Holder has also come under Republican criticism for his role in helping fugitive financier Marc Rich get a pardon from President Clinton.
Obama said he was not hiring "a vetter to vet the vetters."
"Jim Johnson has a very discrete task, as does Eric Holder, and that is simply to gather up information about potential vice presidential candidates," Obama said. "They are performing that job well. It is a volunteer, unpaid position. ... They're not people who I have assigned to a particular job in a future administration."
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Associated Press writers Charles Babington in St. Louis and Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Washington contributed to this report.
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This guy would do it in a heartbeat. He is a complete Democrat party whore. Basically lied, at the direction of the DNC, about his retirmement from the military. Contrary to the mythology, his retirement was ALL READY SCHEDULED, when he disagreed with Rummy over Iraq
Inouye is so old that he makes McCain look youthful and inexperienced. He might as well pick Walter Mondale. Mondale served honorably in the Korean War.
No need to sing his praises to me...he's personally one of a number of reasons I resigned my commission in early 2000.
Well, with Webb's Northern Virginia Vote, Scam, and Fraud machine in place...he could easily get Virginia for the messiah.
McPeak was a political military officer, and was unliked in the AF.
Webb is a head case. However, he has just written a book trying to up his cred as a “moderate conservative”, no really. I saw the review in the Washington Times today. He is an opportunist. All are bad choices and only further the “facade” of Obamarama.
Retired NVA General Giap would be perfect for Osama.
Shinseki ended up being correct about the number of troops needed for long-term occupation of Iraq.
Shinseki, something of an Inouye protoge from what I understand.
And unlike attention whores like Clarke, Shinseki's stayed away from making half-baked political statements in order to get TV time. He'd be a formidable VP choice.
When Obama looks out across this land, he sees a lot of suckers.
How about Weasley Clark, who provided the tank that fired into the compound at WACO.
Hmmmm. Essence of cesspool on the wind.
Going to dredge up Murtha, perhaps?? Go for the “solid old” angle?? And his hair just says “Mow Town” all the way, so the pick could be a two-fer.
If Webb is picked, some of the passages in his novels might be expected to come under scrutiny:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1720926/posts
“Going to dredge up Murtha, perhaps??”
I would jump for joy if Obama picked Murtha. Murtha would deliver Pennsylvania, but would be a huge liability everywhere else. Hello, Abscam.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/10/opinion-a-jacksonian-lieutenant/
SEPTEMBER 2004 : (FANNIE MAE SCANDAL -- See JAMIE GORELICK {9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER}) WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Fannie Mae dropped Thursday as the federal regulator overseeing the mortgage giant said it would increase the frequency with which it issues reports regarding the company's capital. Fannie (FNM: news, chart, profile) saw its shares trade down $2.29, or 3.4 percent, to $63.96 in recent dealings. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, or OFHEO, said earlier Thursday it will increase its classification of Fannie Mae's capital to a monthly basis from quarterly one. The move comes in the wake of the agency's stinging study examining accounting irregularities at Fannie. The monthly reports "will continue until such time as all safety and soundness concerns are fully addressed," OFHEO said.
The heat on Fannie Mae continued to rise Thursday as The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department opened a criminal probe into possible accounting fraud at the company.
Neither the Justice Department nor Fannie Mae would comment on the report. A Justice Department investigation would become the third probe of the company. The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an informal investigation while OFHEO continues its 8-month-old examination of Fannie Mae's accounting.
OFHEO said Thursday that Fannie and smaller rival Freddie Mac (FRE: news, chart, profile) are "adequately capitalized" as of June 30.
Fannie has agreed with OFHEO to undertake a number of steps to address the findings of accounting problems. The outcome of the investigation may, OFHEO noted, result in a restatement of company earnings and a revision of capital calculations.
A House Financial Services subcommittee has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 6 about Fannie's accounting issues. A Fannie spokesman said Chairman and CEO Franklin Raines and Chief Financial Officer Timothy Howard will both testify. OFHEO said Fannie's risk-based capital requirement was $24.391 billion as of June 30. With $36.862 billion on June 30, Fannie exceeded its requirement by $12.471 billion. Fannie also exceeded its minimum capital requirement, the agency said. Freddie also exceeded its capital requirements, the regulator said. Shares of Freddie dropped 1.7 percent to $65.81.
-----------Regulator steps up Fannie reports; Also, report says criminal probe has been opened By Robert Schroeder, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 1:17 PM ET Sept. 30, 2004 39 posted on 09/30/2004 3:36:26 PM PDT by SierraWasp
Yes, VA is dying to vote Democrat for president for the first time in 44 years.
Not Webb.
He has written disturbing “fictional” fantasies about little boys. Not that the dems care about a pedophile sexual fantasies as art.
But according to news yesterday, Webb has openly admired the confederacy as a noble cause.
The latter of which is OK I guess.
Unless you’re running as VP to strengthen the ticket of the potential second black president.
What you said, only about McPeak and the Air Force. A raging narcissist. As fashionistas both, Shinseki liked those black berets from China and McPeak liked the airline pilot “chic”.
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