Post calls for non-Nunn Obama running mate
June 11, 2008 at 1:52 pm by Scott Henry in NewsThe Washington Post has an op-ed today advocating against the selection of former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn as Barack Obama’s choice for Veep.
For awhile, I’d wondered if there really was a groundswell of support outside Georgia for Nunn. Despite being a well-regarded Senate Armed Services Committee chairman who has stayed involved in world affairs through his work with Ted Turner’s Nuclear Threat Initiative, Nunn’s been out of the political limelight for a long time. The Post piece, however, seems to confirm that the former senator is widely considered to be on Obama’s short list.
Anyway, so why the hatin’ on Nunn? The Post reminds us that he was one of the chief architects of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that has led to many gays and lesbians being thrown out of military service. In fact, the piece suggests, it was mainly because of Nunn’s opposition to President Clinton’s initial proposal to allow gays to serve that led to the much-maligned compromise
Critics noted that Nunn held more hearings about and spent more time on gays in the military than he had on the defense budget or even the Navy’s Tailhook sexual harassment scandal.
The piece also notes that Nunn recently said he believes “don’t ask, don’t tell” should be “revisited,” but says that likely won’t be good enough to win support for Nunn in the gay community. If Obama picks Nunn as his running mate, the op-ed argues, he risks alienating a good chunk of the Democratic base.
That’s possible, but the piece also notes that Obama has already indicated he plans, if elected, to get rid of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” John McCain, on the other hand, has said he’d keep it.
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