Tell me about Bob Graham of FL. Good VP choice?

[skipos]

I don't know much about him. I know he was on the list of possible VPs in 2000, and 2004, why wasn't he picked? Would he be a good choice for 08?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Graham

[tomreedtoon]

1. Nice guy. Ineffective politician.

If he were any good, Florida would be a strong Democratic state. As I've pointed out elsewhere, reality is different; the Florida Democratic Party is like the Washington Generals, playing to lose against the Republican Globetrotters. (Ironic choice because none of the Republicans here are black. Go figure.)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. He Would Have Been An Excellent Choice In 00

Definitely would have made FL not close enough to steal...

Don't know about 04... The gap was a bit larger but I think his addition could have closed it...


He was the most popular contemporary political figure in Florida....He never lost a political race... He was two term governor and three term senator...

He's a bit old now to be anybody's VP...

[Adelante]

3. I love Bob Graham - he is a great man

I still think he could move Florida our way if that's what's needed. He won't sell as well in other parts of the country. I think it's the sort of thing where to know him is to love him and that takes time.

[Colobo]

4. Obama/Graham? Nah.

[Adelante]

5. You live in FL, Katz?

Is Graham still as respected as in the past?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Katz Is A Relative Newcomer

I was a college student working on his first gubernatorial campaign in 1978 against drug store magnate, Jack Eckerd..

But he has been out of the news for awhile...

[iverglas]

9. unfortunately ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/25/AR2005042501553.html

Florida has a track record as a gun-law trendsetter. In the mid-1980s, the NRA chose Florida to launch a push for "conceal carry" or "right-to-carry" laws, which allow states to issue permits for residents to carry firearms. Democrat Bob Graham, who was then governor, vetoed the measure, but it was resurrected after he left office and was signed in 1987 by Gov. Bob Martinez, a Republican.

The measure was actually to make Florida "shall-issue", i.e. no one who doesn't meet the extremely minimal criteria (essentially, no criminal record) can be denied a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public.

This is one of the big issues of the gun lobby in the US these days. They have succeeded in ramming this kind of bill through the legislatures of most US states, despite the fact that in almost no case was there any detectable mandate for the legislators or governor who got it made into law to do so, or any widespread public demand for it.

http://selectsmart.com/president/Graham.html

Gun Policy: He received 0% rating from the Gun Owners of America, and 90% rating from The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence

While a majority of US voters in fact agree with his positions in this area, they aren't single-issue voters like the ones the gun lobby can create and motivate with their dishonest rhetoric.

I do not believe that gun lobby's trained seal voters were the reason why Al Gore "lost" the election. But I do think that handing that lobby one of its iconic bad guys on a plate would probably be unwise.

[seasat]

7. I like Graham and initially supported him in the 2004 election.

He's very intelligent and wonky. He actually read the intelligence on Iraq and voted against the resolution. He would write down every detail of his life in little notebooks and received some teasing for it in the media. His biggest negative is that he was an author of the Patriot Act. He's still revered here in Florida.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. He Definitely Would Still Be Senator Now

DSB

[ddeclue]

10. Terrible terrible choice....not Presidential...not Vice Presidential..

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. What

What in his nearly a generation of public service as a state legislator, a governor, and senator disqualifies him from being president or vice president?

Brian P
Orlando, FL (since 1970)

[ddeclue]

12. He does not have Presidential "charisma"...

I've seen him speak in person on numerous party occasions and sorry he's a nice enough guy but he's not (Vice) Presidential material...

And Brian... what's your last name and why aren't you a member of the Orange County Democratic Executive Committee like me? Reply privately if you like...

Doug De Clue
Orlando, FL

[skipos]

13. VPs don't necessarily have to have "charisma" to

1. be a good VP
2. help the ticket

Look at past VPs... Cheney, Gore, HW Bush, Mondale, Agnew. Plenty of them don't have Presidential charisma.