That Didn't Take Long

November 9, 2006 9:29 AM

That sure didn't take long. 2 days after the mid-term elections, Tom Vilsack announces he is running for president. And he's a video-blogger. Inspired by Amanda?
posted by cjoh (14 comments total)

his logo looks sortof like Activition meets 50's pulp magazine... and yes, that's generally how I pick my vote.
posted by wumpus at 9:40 AM on November 9, 2006

My preferences, in order:

Gore
Feingold
Obama

Anybody else, I'll have to hold my nose to vote for.
posted by empath at 9:43 AM on November 9, 2006

You've got to be fucking kidding me. I was hoping for a little downtime before presidential season started back up again. Hopefully it won't really ramp up until May.

No rest for the wicked, I guess.
posted by Captain_Tenille at 9:49 AM on November 9, 2006

Sounds like a uniter. He's a hunter, he's from a farm state, he was orphaned at birth for God's sake. He may not be the first choice of liberal democrats, but if he makes it through the primaries he would definitely have broad appeal for swing voters and old fashioned conservatives. I'm more interested in stopping the damage right now than taking the risk of running a very liberal candidate and having four more years of neocon regression. But I like Obama too. They would make an interesting partnership, with Obama as VP to cover everyone's concerns that he isn't experienced enough to be president.
posted by textilephile at 10:21 AM on November 9, 2006

He's also the governor of the first primary state, and chairman of the DLC, a powerful organization within the Democratic Party - both advantages in a presidential election. On the other hand, he doesn't have much national exposure, so that's probably why he's entering the race so early.
posted by scottreynen at 10:55 AM on November 9, 2006

That's a lovely logo. I have improved it.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:13 AM on November 9, 2006

err.. President Vilsack? Say it out loud.
posted by ninjew at 11:34 AM on November 9, 2006

Also, he's probably an alien.
posted by ninjew at 11:47 AM on November 9, 2006

Quick, MetaFilter, tell me why I should hate this guy! I'm only half-kidding, since as far as the next Dem candidate goes, I'm kind of in the anyone-but-Clinton camp, and a cursory inspection doesn't reveal anything dreadful about Vilsack. He's also a governor, which means he's got some degree of charisma, a trait much less necessary in a congressperson.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:00 PM on November 9, 2006

I hate to be superficial, but I just can't get past the name.
posted by melt away at 12:48 PM on November 9, 2006

He should mocked, tarred and feathered, pulled onto a stage, any stage and then thrown off.

No one should be announcing anything for president in 2006.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:54 PM on November 9, 2006

No one should be announcing anything for president in 2006.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:54 PM EST on November 9


Why not? We know Bush is out in 2008, so there's no question that it would distract the sitting president. And frankly it would be better to vet the possible candidates early, see who raises money better etc. Though the democrats won, they don't really have a party leader or a uniting vision. Having people announce now (over next couple of months) would allow such a leader and vision to emerge.

It would also force people in offices around the country to take action now on issues instead of maintain a below the radar legislative history when they pop up as a candidate in late 2007.
posted by Pastabagel at 2:16 PM on November 9, 2006

As we discussed in the Warner thread, there isn't a whole lot of room to the right of Hillary. Basically, there are two ways that you can go as a candidate in this particular cycle. If you're already a credible candidate like Warner, you take yourself off the table to run for Vice President. If you're not a credible candidate, you put yourself on the table in order to run for Vice President. So, this could be his angle.
posted by dhartung at 2:35 PM on November 9, 2006

No one should be announcing anything for president in 2006.

Like it or not, any campaign needs to get going early now. As little as a year before the first primary is now viewed as too cautious. Edwards filed in April '03, as did Kucinich, Kerry in January '03, and Dean in July '02. Clark didn't get going until October '03.

Actually, this week is a rather good time to get just the right amount of attention. Vilsack is not well known outside Iowa but has been considered a likely candidate by insiders for a while already. Wait much longer and his stock would go down on the assumption he was having second thoughts or trouble raising money. Right now, though, he gets into the post-election era of good feelings and while voters are thinking about politics (as they certainly won't want to be in, say, April).
posted by dhartung at 2:46 PM on November 9, 2006