The honor of being listed

Asking someone to be Vice President is dangerous, after all, they might actually say yes. issuing lists is much safer.

Everyone remembers the "urban legend" of JFK choosing Lyndon Johnson for vice president in 1960. It was a formal curtesy on Kennedy's part, and he really wanted Scoop Jackson for veep. Bobby's going into LBJ's suite to take the offer back was one of the worst things the brothers ever did. Things are different nowadays when it comes to honorary Vice presidential candidates. Put them on the official list. It's safer.

This year, Obama's official list has the following names on it:  Ret. Gen. James Jones, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, Evan Bayh, Kathleen Sebelius, Ted Strickland, Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Jim Webb, Bill Nelson, Jack Reed, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Tom Daschle, and Sam Nunn.

Clearly, Hillary, Edwards, Kerry, Strickland, Kaine, Dodd, Nunn, Webb and Daschle are purely honorific. These are curtesy listings, especially since most of them have already said they didn't want the job. This is a smart thing to do because it's a genuine honor and Obama needs their support.

Then there's the maybes, such as Sebelius, Bayh and Warner, who are actually being considered, but primarily are there as a curtesy. It's the people no one's ever heard of, like Jones and Reed who are the real front runners. Going back through the history of past elections, rarely has a "usual suspect" been chosen. Granted Edwards was four years ago, but that's almost a unique situation. Remember Dan Quayle? George H. Bush wasn't even on Reagan's short list in 1980. Jack Kemp was brought out of retirement for crying out loud.

It looks like it's probably Jones. But,  I could very well be wrong.