General James Jones: Close Friend Of John McCain, Obama VP Candidate

Politico:

It may sound smart on the surface, but there is one not-so-small problem: He and McCain are close friends and have been for decades.

The two served together on Capitol Hill as military liaisions, McCain for the Navy and Jones the Marines. Jones is an outside adviser to McCain on national security issues and the GOP nominee has made clear that he'd like to appoint his friend to a top post in his administration.

Read the whole story: Politico

Comments

[TheAlchemist]

I'd love to see an Obama/Powell ticket

[2sleepy]

I talked to someone about this list, and he said it's common knowledge that candidates leak the list to evaluate public reaction -not so much to the individuals on the list, but the 'types', i.e. military, governor, etc. Not sure if my source is right but he knows alot of people in the beltway & knew about Hillary's loans to herself long before the information hit the MSM

[HumeSkeptic]

Why does a President need a VP with military backgound? Isn't Pentagon enough to help him/her on military matters?

[HumeSkeptic]

General James Jones: Close Friend Of John McCain, Obama VP Candidate
---------------

Huh?

Why is this man 0bama's VP candidate?

[BADEN]

There are SO MANY MUCH MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE AND PROFESSIONALLY ACCOMPLISHED PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY - what's up with this??????­??????????­????

Who in the WORLD dropped this little 'stealth-bomb' in the middle of the process????

Can you say... DLC?

I knew you could...

[lromfried]

The media has suggested on numerous occasions that Senator Barack Obama might choose former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) as his running mate. Today, he was mentioned by MSNBC as one of 16. This would be a grave mistake!

Sam Nunn sits on the boards of some of the most abusive corporations in the world – Chevron, General Electric, and The Coca-Cola Co.,

Chevron, formerly Chevron Texaco, has been accused of abuses around the world (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cER8CjI7wdY), the most infamous are those committed against indigenous people of Ecuador and complicity in deaths of protesters in Nigeria in 1998.

General Electric "has a lengthy record of criminal, civil, political and ethical transgressions, some of them shocking in disregard for the integrity of human beings," according to CorpWatch. (http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01july-august/julyaug01corp4.html).

The Coca-Cola Co. has been accused of labor and human rights abuses in Colombia, and environmental abuses committed by Coke in India, Mexico and elsewhere. (http://www.KillerCoke.org)

Sam Nunn is a retired partner at the Atlanta law firm King & Spaulding, a notoriously anti-union law firm, and continues to have an office and an email address there.

It should be noted that in 1993 Nunn was a leader to keep openly gay people out of the military.

A decision by the Obama campaign to run Nunn would be an indication that his campaign does not take labor, human rights and environmental issues seriously.

[ErnestineBass]

NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONO
NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONO
NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONONONO­NONONO
NOOOOOOOOO­OOoooooooo­oooooo!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!

ABSOLUTELY NO "RETIRED GENERALS" AS VEEP!!!

This is a deal breaker, 0bama.
I WILL NOT vote for a ticket with this man on it.

[jsinclair]

Take a look at Wes Clarke.

He's a very strong VP choice in every area that Jones is weak. Not a good "hit man", but honest, likeable and credible on military issues without seeming like a DB.

[TheNuff]

NEXT!!!!

[olivia]

I fail to see the appeal.

[personalpolitical]

C'mon, he will obviously not be VP, he wouldn't even make the short list, give me a break. Not happening.

[JJeff88]

If you look at this from a purely "straight-arrow" apolitical point of view, it should be possible to make a close friend of your opponent your running mate if you feel he's a really qualified guy who'd make the best VP in your administration and who can really help you.

When it comes to leading our country, "who someone is friendly with" should be far outweighed by expertise and competency.

[BEHM777]

As much as I--a disabled veteran US Marine vintage--would love to see a Jarhead as the VP, the fact that General Jones is a friend of Senator McCain should immediately eliminate him from consideration. I am not concerned with how capable he may be, because there are others out there just as capable. We simply can not risk having a thief in the temple. Yeah, I am paranoid--so what?

[robXdion]

Guess that takes him off the list. I guess he agrees with McCain's GI Bill argument too. Most Marine Officers would. Keep the troops clueless and in the ranks so their job is easier.

[texanna]

How could it possibly be smart for Sen. Obama to be considering a military person for his VP when we're trying to move away from the militaristic posture of the Bushcos?

[Suthngal]

Because he HAS to. It is widely known that this isn't his strongest suit, and my party (GOP) is exploiting it. BHO has to find someone with a proficient background in defense.

[nathananderson]

LOL. For a ton of reasons actually, not the least of which is a better understanding of international affairs, and a mulitilateral approach to foreign policy. I think we can all agree that Bush failed the military miserably. Just because a person was or is in the military, doesn't mean they are ardent supporters of the war. Remember, the two presidential candidates that garnered the most in terms of campaign donations from enlisted active duty military members were Ron Paul and Barack Obama - the two candidates most opposed to the war.

[texanna]

I don't think that being in the military gives one a better understanding of international affairs. On the contrary, I think it gives one a very narrow view of the rest of the world. When all you've got is hammers (bombs and guns) pretty much everything looks like a nail (cause for military action). That is really not the balance that Obama is looking for is it? I hope not anyway.

[jsinclair]

Easily. He can choose a military VP who has consistently opposed the Iraq war and opposed Bush--Wesley Clarke.

Clarke is at the top of my list for VP. He makes McCain look as ill-informed about the military as he is about economics. Plus, he's personable, smart, and had the guts to be a Democrat in an institution where the officers on the "career track" were far and away Republicans.

I don't think the Republicans can "swift boat" Clarke's Silver Star (shot four times by the Viet Cong and still giving instructions to his men) the way they did Kerry's. You don't swift boat a four-star general who was Supreme Allied Commander.

Plus, he's a good Democrat who sent email to his supporters ENTHUSIASTICALLY supporting Obama as soon as the primary was over!