Former Georgia senator Sam Nunn is nearly as old as McCain but is well spoken and has more wits about him. Though, he has been caught referring to Czechoslovakia, like McCain.
Nunn contemplated his own run for the White House in 2007.
I have been leaning toward Tim Kaine but Nunn has been quietly in the background, unassuming and seems to know his stuff. He's got loads of experience.
Nunn is one of the few democrats who isn't slated to speak -- yet -- at the convention, leading one to believe he could be Obama's vice president. Tim Kaine and Jack Reed haven't been slated either.
Evan Bayh and Joe Biden have been announced as speakers.
Here's what Nunn had to say about Obama in April.
AJC: Based on my conversations with Senator Obama, reading his book and his speeches and seeing the kind of campaign he has run, I believe that he is our best choice to lead our nation. Senator Obama, as evidenced by his words and his deeds, recognizes that:
— We have developed a habit of avoiding the tough decisions and seemingly lost our ability to build consensus to tackle head-on our biggest challenges.
— Demonizing the opposition, oversimplifying the issues, and dumbing down the political debate prevent our country from coming together to make tough decisions and tackle our biggest challenges.
— Solving America’s problems will require difficult choices and sacrifices and leaders capable of considering new ideas from both political parties.
— On foreign policy and security policy, we must recognize that we are not limited to a choice between belligerency and isolation and that we must listen to lead successfully on the key issues facing America and the world.
— Our next president must also recognize that the battle against violent terrorists, while requiring a prudent use of military power, is also a long-term contest of psychology and ideas.
Nunn has been working to shore up loose nuclear weapons, an asset for sure.
The case for Nunn
Newsweek: The main reason Nunn has a chance is that Obama has told his advisers that he won't choose anyone who lacks the stature to be perceived immediately as a plausible president. This makes any short list much shorter. Kathleen Sebelius and Ted Strickland, for instance, are good governors but they just aren't going to make that cut; Nunn's foreign policy experience, unquestioned intelligence, and big thinking assure that he does.
In Nunn's case, out of the Senate doesn't mean out of the action. His record in the 12 years since he left is impressive. Nunn and Sen. Richard Lugar have, with little public attention, managed to reduce the greatest security threat in the world—loose nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union. The Nunn-Lugar initiative has been a huge success and a Nobel Prize is a distinct possibility.
Some of Nunn's critics come from the gay and lesbian community.
