The Perfect Ticket

Barack Obama took a serious hit in West Virginia. He didn't pay any attention to the state and let Hillary Clinton run away with it. It doesn't change the outcome but it does raise doubt about his electibility in the Ohio Valley states and in Appalachia.

In 1960, John Kennedy worked West Virginia hard and it was a key turning point for his campaign for the Democratic nomination. The circumstances and importance of the West Virginia primary are different today, but, with effort Obama could have narrowed the loss and come closer, I am convinced, to an Indiana style outcome.

Now, to overcome the doubt, he has shifted his emphasis to Kentucky. He is going to put resources and money into the state and not let it get too far out of whack as he did in West Virginia.

John Edwards endorsement this evening is a part of the strategy to build Obama's working class and poor folks cred. It is great that Edwards has come on board now. He said earlier that he was going to await the outcome of the primaries. I guess he feels the outcome is now certain.

Thoughtful analysis aside, I do believe there is a perfect ticket that will give the Republicans fits. It also will secure, permanently, the votes of poor white folk who growed up in a holler. I am proposing that Obama select the senior Senator from West Virginia, Robert Byrd, as his running mate. Think about, an Obama/Byrd ticket. It resonates success. It can't lose in Appalachia. It is a great unifying ticket. It smells of pork. And, the good news is, within a year or so Obama could select a replacement. On the other hand, Byrd as would act an insurance policy against lunatics bent upon taking out Obama. No one wants a President who soils himself.