In what appears to be a final clarification, while being Vice-President is clearly not John Edwards's first choice, it now appears certain that he would accept the vice-presidential nomination if offered:
After the usual hemming and hawing and non-denial denials, "Well I've already run for president twice and for vice president" yada yada yada, the money quote (again paraphrased from memory): "If asked I would do anything that Senator Obama asked me to...including this!"
Then just to make sure, the interviewer basically restated the question (paraphrase): "So just to be sure, you would accept a position in the cabinet or the VP slot"
And again his answer was approximately:, "I would do anything Senator Obama asked me to".
Like Paul, I think that Edwards would be a great choice for VP. However, it should be noted that while Edwards is now saying that he would accept the slot if offered, the final vetting for Obama's choice has already begun:
Barack Obama's vice presidential selection team has begun to ask potential candidates for information and documents, a signal that the formal vetting phase of the search process has begun.
Last week, members of the team gave Sen. James Webb of VA a list of what they needed to begin their investigation of his background and career. Webb refused, telling them that he did not want to be considered for the position.
This is the final step in the process before the actual selection. Those candidates who have been asked to submit information and documents are the candidates on the short list. In other words, Edwards could simply be making this statement now that he knows he is not on the short list: If he has been asked to submit documents and papers, then he is on the short list. If he has not, then he isn't, and is out of contention. The truth is, we don't know if Edwards has made the short list or not.
I would love to know the list of candidates who have been asked to submit information and documents, as it would be the same thing as knowing the final short list. Right now, about all we know is that Webb is not on that list (because he removed himself), and that Clinton almost certainly is on the list (as there probably would have been a leak about her not being on the list). Hopefully, Edwards and Sebelius made the final cut, because they appear to be the best possibilities among the most likely options. This means that I don't consider Clark to be a likely option, even though I think he would be excellent.
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