Governor's on the Short List

As the conventions approach, the speculation gets more intense as to who will be the VP candidates. Two possibilities that have been mentioned frequently as being on the short list are Tim Kaine, governor of Virginia, and Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana. Many people believe these two men have a great shot at being selected. Only time will tell.

Tim Kaine – Tim Kaine and Barack Obama became close in 2005 when Obama did some campaigning for Kaine in Virginia. Recently Kaine has returned the favor traveling and campaigning for Obama. Kaine graduated from the University of Missouri, and then attended Harvard Law School. After law school her took a year off to travel to Honduras for mission work. Kaine practiced law in Richmond for seventeen years. His specialty was representing people who had been denied housing opportunities because of race or disability. In 1994 Tim Kaine was selected to the city council where he served for seven years, including three years as mayor. In 2001 Kaine was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and served alongside Mark Warner until 2005. In 2005 Kaine defeated Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore for the office of Governor. Kaine promised centrist fiscal leadership, and vowed to continue many of the policies implemented by his predecessor Mark Warner. Kaine is considered by many to be a moderate, and is a popular governor from a southern state. Virginia is also practically deadlocked at this point in the campaign holding thirteen important electoral votes. While Kaine has some strengths that would appeal to the Obama camp, there are also some very apparent weaknesses. Kaine is just fifty years old, and would not do much to allay concerns about Obama’s experience. Another issue that hurts Kaine’s chances is the fact that he has no national security experience. Many believe that Kaine is on the short list, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Bobby Jindal – Jindal is the son of Indian immigrants, and would be an out of the box selection for Senator McCain. He graduated from Brown University with honors in biology and public service, and then received a master’s degree in political science from New College, Oxford. After graduation Jindal went to work for a consulting firm. Jindal is a Hindu convert to Catholicism. He is married and has three kids. At thirty-seven years of age Bobby Jindal is thirty-four years younger than McCain. He would bring youth and energy to the campaign, but is he to young to be second in line to take over the presidency? At thirty-seven many would assume that Jindal has little experience, however for someone that age he has accomplished quite a bit. His political career began in 1996 when Republican Governor Mike Foster appointed him secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. In 1999 Jindal was appointed to be the youngest ever president of the University of Louisiana System. In March of 2001 he was nominated by President Bush to become Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation. He served at this post until February of 2003 when he returned to Louisiana to run for Governor. He lost a close race to Democrat Kathleen Blanco. The loss did not deter Jindal, in 2004 he ran for the House of Representatives in Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District, and won. He was re-elected two years later in 2006. In 2007 Jindal announced he was running for governor, and this time around he was successful. Jindal has an extremely conservative record, and would help to counter some of McCain’s moderate tendencies. There would be the question of age, and many would see this selection simply as a reaction to Obama’s minority status. Jindal has proven that he is a capable politician, but is he ready to be selected to run as the Vice Presidential candidate for the Republican party?