Tom Vilsack, Wesley Clark, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Dick Gephardt political cartoon.
According to an AmericanSpectator article, Democrat John
Kerry will announce his vice presidential candidate on
July 6. The consensus had been targeting a July 11
revelation and suggests Kerry’s campaign is moving up the
announcement out of sheer desperation. Despite low
approval ratings for President Bush, Kerry is still
failing to capitalize on the situation. Naming the VP
candidate could shore up lagging poll numbers and revive a
disinterested press:
"It's accelerated. It all began happening on Wednesday,"
says the campaign source. "For the past week we've been
told there was no decision, then all of sudden, this.
We've been sifting through some cruddy poll numbers, so
maybe that has something to do with it."
"When you factor in a president down in the 40s of
approval, and a candidate that many people claim they
don't know much about, there is no way we should be losing
Michigan and Pennsylvania. But we are," says the Kerry
adviser. "We've spent $50 million and have nothing to show
for it. Not a single point."
A Kerry campaign source named the following as top
contenders for the Veep spot:
Sen. John Edwards, Rep. Dick Gephardt, Iowa Gov. Tom
Vilsack, Wesley Clark, and a “surprise candidate.”
Supposedly, each were asked to supply their contact and
travel info for the July 4th weekend.
So, who is the “surpise candidate”? According to the Kerry
campaign source:
“It could be Hillary. It's assumed that she has been
vetted on a separate track from the others. At least
that's the talk. No one here knows for sure," says the
source.
According to a Clinton Senate staffer in New York City,
late on Wednesday, a staff colleague called from the road
and indicated that "the Senator may need to change some
things around next week." "But we weren't told to do
anything for now," says the staffer.