Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 23, 1992 TAG: 9203230029
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Clinton, who has virtually locked up the Democratic nomination, has almost four months to make up his mind.
He refused Sunday "to play the vice presidential game" in tossing possible names about.
But he outlined his requirements for a running mate; among them a candidate who would "be able to be a good president on the first day if I had a heart attack right after inauguration. You'd have to be able to complement the strengths and reinforce the shortcomings of the administration to be part of the team," Clinton said on NBC-TV's "Meet the Press."
Some names are already surfacing, including former Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas and Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, both of whom recently quit the presidential race.
Other possible candidates include New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, a one-time star of the New York Knicks pro basketball team, and House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri, who ran for the 1988 presidential nomination.
Long shots include freshman Sen. Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania and Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Powell, who is black, has climbed the power ladder under Republicans, but no law would keep him off the Democratic ticket. His presence could increase black registration and would add military credentials, as would Kerrey's.
Powell also was mentioned as a possible running mate for President Bush should he dump Vice President Dan Quayle, but thus far has called himself "non-political" and shown no interest in such a race.
A top Clinton aide, James Carville, masterminded Wofford's race against Attorney General Dick Thornburgh for the Pennsylvania Senate seat.
Carville says it's too early to pick a vice presidential candidate.
"We've been operating under the assumption that you have to catch the ball before you can throw it," Carville said. "Picking a vice president is part of throwing the ball. We haven't caught it yet."
Whoever Clinton's running mate is, the selection probably won't become much of an issue because voters tend to look only at the top of the ticket, says Democratic pollster Claibourne Darden.
"You just have to look at recent elections to tell," Darden said. "George Bush was pulling a submerged duffel bag with Dan Quayle and he won by significant landslides."
Here's a look at potential picks:
Tsongas would give Clinton an anchor in the Northeast. His economic plan was similar to Clinton's, with the exception of a proposed middle-class tax cut on which they disagreed.
While Tsongas appealed to well-educated, high-income suburbanites, Clinton attracts blacks, blue-collar workers and less-educated voters.
"You've got a winning hand" with that combination, said Democratic strategist John White.
Bradley would lend the luster of a former sports star to the race, along with the credentials of a Rhodes scholar (Clinton was one as well) and reviews in Washington as one of the Senate's bright lights.
Gephardt was tested on the campaign trail in 1988. He also is popular among congressional Democrats. But he comes from Missouri, which is next door to Clinton's home state and thus provides little regional balance. His leadership position in the House could be damaging this year, with a powerful anti-incumbent feeling among the electorate.
Kerrey, the Medal of Honor winner who lost part of a leg in Vietnam, has clashed with Clinton over how the Arkansas governor got his Vietnam draft deferment.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB