The SoapBoxers

President Obama has his reelection strategy underway.  His campaign slogan “Forward” has been unveiled.  Obama is currently leading Romney in the polls and the money is pouring in to his campaign fund.  The question that a lot of people are wondering though is who will be the running mates to Obama and Romney?

Will Obama Keep Biden?

Is Hillary Clinton in line for a promotion?

Obama has experience with Biden and we all know exactly what Biden’s slip ups provide us; humor.  Really, of all the individuals that Obama could have chosen for his 2008 campaign, he has the horse’s ass of the Democratic Party.  Biden has more slip ups that someone with a severe case of Tourette’s Syndrome.  It makes me wonder if whoever did the vetting of Biden was awake or asleep.

Obama could choose Hillary Clinton who is a hard worker, has well established relations (no, not those type of relations) on Capitol Hill and is arguably much more of a “moderate” than Obama or Biden.  Clinton could help secure the female vote that has been alienated by Hilary Rosen’s comments about Ann Romney never working a day in her life.

Romney’s Options

Christie

Romney has a few more suitors to consider for his running mate.  Chris Christie would win the hearts and minds of many with his true conservatism. He’s the current New Jersey governor and has not ruled out a run with Romney.

Romney and Santorum butted heads a lot in the primaries and there is little doubt that Romney is left with bruises and Santorum is likely still frustrated.  Santorum would bring the vote of evangelical Christian hard-core, traditional conservatives. The question is. “Can each of them get past the heated tiffs from the last 6 months?”

Rubio

Marco Rubio, the Senator from Florida is a high energy up and coming politician.  He is loved in his home state and would certainly help bring on board some of the Hispanic vote.  The tea party loves him and I believe he’d help bring back some of the hard core conservatives that don’t like a lot of Romney’s past.  His lack of experience though is a big deficit. (He’s more experienced that Obama was in 2008, but that isn’t saying much)

Condoleezza Rice is not a new name in politics and is has a great deal of experience with the White House.  Condoleezza was the Secretary of State under President George W Bush and probably has some negative feelings associated with her because some do not view the GW Bush years as favorable.  Condi though is a mainstream conservative with her head on straight.  She’d strengthen the female vote and certainly give some feelings of comfort to those of us that aren’t sure Romney is very conservative.  On top of all that, Condi is hot.

The Endgame Nears

Both candidates have plenty of short comings that they need their VP’s to help overcome.

Obama now has a 3 year record to run on and not much to show.  The recent politicizing of the Usama Bin Laden killing was the only major victory of his term and now that has led to harsh criticism.  Obama is a wealthy man, a lawyer and a member of the 1% that the OWS crowd protests.  He needs this same group to get him elected.

Romney has weaknesses as well.  He governed as more of a liberal than a conservative as the Massachusetts Governor.  His religion (Mormonism) has also upset many traditional conservatives.  He’s independently wealthy making him also a target of the 99% OWS group.  If wealth is evil, Romney is more evil than Obama when you compare his $240 Million to Obama’s $10 Million.  I’m sure Romney’s camp will use this as an advantage in dealing with America’s failed economy and recovery.

One thing is for certain. Obama stepped in it with the SEALs when he politicized their killing of Bin Laden.  I’m also wondering how the Right will use the dishonorable discharge of Marine Sergeant Gary Stein over his Facebook posting concerning Obama. In Sergeant Stein’s situation, there needs to be one more exception placed on the First Amendment for off duty military personnel on social media sites.  Obviously this is not considered protected speech and most certainly has been proven to have serious consequences.

We have some exciting campaigning and debates headed our way over the next few months.  Of course, we also have a lot of annoying phone calls and TV ads.  Hopefully after all that grief we have a conservative president with an intelligent and ready to lead vice president.

Squeaky…