I'll Admit It — These Are Random Thoughts

It's a hot, stuffy July night in Dallas, Texas. And my thoughts are like fireflies, darting from one spot to the next with little warning:

• I was reading an article in the Washington Post that was discussing a couple of the hottest names being tossed around lately for Democratic running mate.
  
  They are Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia.
  
  Both men are from so-called "red states" that are presently predicted to remain in the Republican column in November.
  
  But the feeling is that either state could flip sides — especially if a native son had a spot on the ticket with Barack Obama.
  
  Obama has no executive experience so a vice presidential candidate with a background as a governor would be helpful to his ticket. Bayh brings that to the table — he was governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997.
  
  In 1998, he was elected to the Senate, winning the seat his father, Birch Bayh, held for three terms.
  
  Evan Bayh received 64% of the vote in 1998 when he was elected to the Senate, the greatest victory margin ever for a Democrat in a U.S. Senate race in Indiana.
  
  I remember his father. And, in spite of the elder Bayh's accomplishments, I have to wonder about the wisdom of putting someone with his political genetic makeup on the ticket.
  
  The elder Bayh had been in the Senate for 18 years when he ran for his fourth term in 1980. Now, I know 1980 was a Republican year, but Birch Bayh lost to Dan Quayle — after debating him several times.
  
  Quayle, who was never known as a great debater, went on to be elected vice president with George H.W. Bush eight years later — after Quayle had been reminded by Lloyd Bentsen that he was "no Jack Kennedy."
  
  Of the other prospect — Sam Nunn — well, he'll be 70 years old before Election Day. Won't that kind of negate the age problem John McCain's been having?
  
  Also, how does Nunn fit in to the image the Obama campaign likes to project about how this campaign is a break with the past? I've been hearing Nunn's name mentioned as a vice presidential possibility for a couple of decades now.
  
  And he's clearly a part of the "old politics" in Washington. He was elected to the Senate in 1972 and he retired in 1997.
  
  Nunn was only 58 when he retired — many analysts have said the Democratic Party's "shift to the left" led him to leave public service.
  
  I've heard rumors that Obama will announce his decision before the start of the Summer Olympics in Beijing on August 8. I hope he comes up with a better choice.


• While we're on the subject of the vice presidency, The Economist mentions — albeit briefly — a subject that has been discussed tentatively on both sides — picking a running mate from the other party.
  
  It's not as outlandish as it sounds. It has been done before — and successfully — by no less than Abraham Lincoln, the Republican president who was re-elected with Democrat Andrew Johnson on his ticket. (Of course, let's not forget that Johnson became president when Lincoln was assassinated and then became the first president to be impeached.)
  
  And the vice presidential prospects make sense — to a point. Especially if the objective is to appeal to voters from the other party. But not particularly if you want to strengthen your own party's base — except on the issue of the war.
  
  For McCain, the prospect from the other party is Sen. Joe LIeberman — the Democrat-turned-independent from Connecticut, as well as Al Gore's running mate eight years ago. "The senators are seen so often in each other’s company that they might be Siamese twins," says The Economist. But, aside from Lieberman's support for the Iraq War, there isn't much for a garden variety Republican to like about him.
  
  For Obama, the prospect is Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran who has been a very vocal critic of the Iraq War. But, like Lieberman, Hagel brings a voting record on social and economic issues that wouldn't necessarily appeal to most people outside his party.
  
  The Economist advises both McCain and Obama to "err on the side of caution." I'm inclined to agree.


• Back in March, when Brett Favre retired, I was saddened to hear the news, even though it was something I had been expecting for awhile.
  
  This week, with the news reports that Favre wanted to return to action, I guess I've grown accustomed to the idea that his career is finally over.
  
  As a Packer fan, I'm not looking forward to the losses that I believe will come in the early stages of the "post-Favre era," but I'm prepared for them.
  
  It's a part of the natural cycle. Teams struggle when their star player retires, whatever the sport may be.
  
  As much as it pains me to say it, it's time for the Packers to move into their future, and it's time for Favre to move into his.


• I recently learned that my high school class will be holding its 30-year reunion in another week.
  
  I won't be able to attend, but I wish I could. I know that a couple of my classmates have died recently, and it would be good to be able to see the ones who are still around and find some comfort from being with them for a few hours.
  
  Life, as George Carlin was fond of saying, "is a zero sum game."
  
  (By the way, my high school class graduation was held on Carlin's 41st birthday.)