I've long held a suspicion that the 2008 race would see one of the Democratic candidates announce a running mate before the nomination had been secured. With three top tier candidates, and a few others not all that far behind, it would make a lot of strategic sense. In addition to generating a tremendous amount of free publicity, it would also - assuming a close working relationship, of course - allow for a team approach to campaigning. If the team members were right, I think it really could help shake things up.
Which is what makes Neil's comments over at Ezra's place so interesting. With Warner now committed to running for the Senate seat in VA, a Clinton/Clark ticket is a very real possibility, and the timing of Clark's endorsement suggests it very well may be in the works.
I don't want to see Clinton win the nomination, but I have to admit, a Clinton/Clark ticket would be very, very hard to stop. Recent evidence suggests that military families are donating money to Democratic candidates is far greater numbers than in the past, a trend that would almost certainly accelerate were a former general nominated as VP. And I'm going to have to think about this one a bit more before I come to any sort of firm conclusion, but my initial hunch is that it is precisely this sort of move that might help realign military families towards the Dems. They clearly are already moving, but that's only the first step. Convincing them to stay is something else altogether. Definitely something worth watching as things go forward...
UPDATE: Ezra has more on this here. I hadn't yet heard the Zinni as Republican running mate rumor yet, but if true, I have to agree that it would be unsettling. To have both major parties nominate a former general as the VP during a time of war would, so far as I know, be unprecedented. Add to that the fact that its quite likely that one of our two modern dynastic families could be running at the top of the ticket and you've got a situation that I think, all things being equal, we really should avoid. The question is: can we?
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