Obama VP? Gen Anthony Zinni - Foreign Policy and Military Guru

Why Dems Should Consider Gen Zinni for VP:

OPPOSED THE WAR & ITS EXECUTION PLAN
1. Opposed the War - aligned with Obama's position
2. Had courage & Integrity to speak out against War to Congress and media - unlike most retired generals who were paid to be Pro-War
3. Authored Book "Battle Ready", published in 2004, that detailed 10 serious criticisms of the rationale and execution of the war. Testified to Congress re same.
4. Told Bush they needed 300,000+ Troops to Carry Out Bush's Mission to Invade Iraq
5. Said of Bush's War Strategy, "I'm not sure what planet they live on."
6. Had foresight to realize that Military Success is "just the beginning of the beginning."
7. May 2004 on 60 Minutes ... "Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time." ... "heads should roll at the Pentagon... serious derelictions of duty ... criminal negligence."
8. Co-authored Feb 08 letter to Congress opposing torture

TERRORISM EXPERTISE
1. Warned Congress re Bin Laden in MARCH 2000
2. Warned Congress before 9/11 that Afghanistan was harboring Bin Laden -- like Clintonistas
3. Had courage to tell Clinton Cabinet they weren't aggressive enough on terrorism issues

HAS MOST MILITARY & FOREIGN POLICY EXPERIENCE
1. Two Masters Degrees in International Relations and in Management
2. Four-Star General - Marine Corp - 35 years of Active Military Duty
3. Traveled to 70 countries & in nearly every military operation since the 60s
4. Special Envoy on Israeli-Palestinian Peace Effort
5. More Military Experience than McCain
6. More Foreign Policy Experience than McCain
7. Knows More re MidEast than McCain
8. As Ex-Marine, Knows More re Infantry than McCain and Iraq is a groundwar
9. Developed Rapport with Musharref and Somali Warlords to Keep Dialogue Open
10. Called Global Warming a Serious Security Threat
11. Unlike McCain, knows the difference between Shia and Sunni

ECONOMICS
1. Undergrad degree from Villanova in Economics

NO VOTING RECORD TO ATTACK
1. Hasn't served in elected office so no voting record to attack

DEMOGRAPHICS
1. Italian Born in Conshohocken PA & attended Villanove - will help secure PA
2. Italian with military background - since Italians have large presence in Unions - could help secure Labor vote that sometimes swing Red because of gun-toting Republicans
3. Catholic - could help secure swing Catholic vote in upper midwest states
4. Hispanic - because most Hispanics are Catholic, could help secure Hispanic Vote
5. Recently a Commander at Quantico Base in VA and AFB in FL - both swing states
6. Lobbied with Nelson & Graham of FL to keep CENTCOM in Tampa FL instead of Middle East as Rumsfled wanted because big base in middle East would incite more violence - help w FL vote.
7. Military & Veteran Vote wouldn't all go to McCain: Quote from a Marine Blog: "A Marine advising the president would help weed out the BS. Might make me want to actually vote for a Democrat."

INTANGIBLES
1. Son is Captain in the Marines - not like many GOP who vote for war but don't send their own kids.
2. Nicknames - Warrior Diplomat and The Godfather
3. Described as Candid but Eloquent "old hand" at fielding questions - should be great on the stump

FUN BUT IRRELEVANT ITEMS
1. Limbaugh Hates Him -- called anit-war Vets like Zinni the "phony soldiers"
2. Close with Wes Clarke, an HRC supporter
3. And for all those empty-headed war-mongers, he co-authored a book with Tom Clancy. How's that for catering to the gun-toting Appalachian and Southern White Males?

CONS
1. Voted for Bush in 2000 but admitted he was wrong
2. Said he never wants to run for public office
3. Outspoken . . . can he stay on message?
4. Not sure whether he's aligned on other important Dem issues
5. How does he feel re "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"?

Curious what other Yellow Dog Dems think of him to round out the Ticket????

A few wks ago, I asked Chuck Todd what he thought of Zinni as VP. Here's his response about how Tim Russert thought Zinni was in play as well as Chuck's follow-up commentary. Pretty interesting!

Chuck: In last week's blog, you answered a question re Gen. Zinni as Obama's possible VEEP candidate. You thought Zinni's lack of campaign experience would prevent him from being on the short list, but your comments intrigued me more . .

"You should know that the very first person I ever heard from on the idea of Zinni... Tim Russert. Tim thought Zinni was in play long before his name started circulating.

"Tim thought Zinni was in play for a couple of reasons: he's Wes Clark without being as flamboyant; he was a Bush appointee in the Mideast; he was well-respected on both sides of the aisle but was starting to show some interest in becoming an active Democrat. All of those reasons made Tim think (and also report) that Zinni was somebody who was going to be a player in the Veepstakes for either Clinton or Obama. I definitely think Zinni will be a player in an Obama admin... perhaps NSA"