When Carol Moseley Braun endorsed Howard Dean on January 15, many speculated that she'd earn a cabinet post in a Dean administration as a result - potentially as Secretary of Health and Human Services or as Ambassador to the UN. Few, if any, thought she'd be named as his running mate, believing that, unfair as it might be, her ethnicity and gender ruled her out for any real consideration.
But now, with Dean's campaign on the ropes, someone at Democratic Underground has suggested just such a scenario, and based on the fact that Dean has virtually nothing to lose and everything to gain, I'm struck that such an announcement could be lightning in a bottle. In a single press conference, Dean could divert media attention from Kerry, energize his base, and excite African Americans and women. While naming a running mate before attending the convention would be unorthodox, the Dean campaign has been unusual since it's beginnings, and indeed, has been criticized since the Trippi firing for, if anything, becoming too similar to the Washington establishment it's railed against.
It would be a gamble, and it's only speculation that both Dean and Braun would even agree to such an arrangement, but if they did, could it be the hail mary pass that would make Dean the new comeback kid?
