Let's see…Bill Clinton says that he has no interest in being John Kerry's running mate. Tom Brokaw says he's not interested in getting into politics…
John McCain, who I believe still is technically the head of the Bush campaign in Arizona, is hinting he might not say no to the job. Right-wing websites are filled with theories of how Hillary Clinton is planning to swoop in and grab it, perhaps elbowing Kerry aside while she's at it…
Pundits are tossing out names like John Edwards, Bob Graham, Dick Gephardt, Bill Nelson, Bill Richardson, Evan Bayh, Ed Rendell, Dianne Feinstein and Robert Rubin.
Logic, which often does not figure into these things, would tell us that Kerry should wait until just before the Democratic convention to make his pick. By then, there will be a lot more polling data to tell him where he may be weak and what states are still in play…and in the interim, he'll have most of those people out "auditioning" for the veep slot by campaigning for him.
On the other hand, if he waits that long, every single person in the country over the age of 35 who is not already part of the Bush administration will have been mentioned for the job. People will start saying, "What's wrong with Kerry? Can't he make a decision?" And then they'll start saying, "It's taking so long because no one wants to run with him." Which comedy series will be the first to do a sketch that parodies a current reality show with potential veeps being eliminated a la Fear Factor or Survivor? (Extra points if they actually get Donald Trump to come in and tell guys like Edwards and Nelson, "You're fired!")
So Kerry will fill out the ticket relatively soon. I'm guessing either someone from Florida or Dom DeLuise.