Weird.
Barack Obama's vice presidential search team has floated the name of a member of President Bush's first-term Cabinet, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, as Obama's running mate.
The search committee, now led by Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder, raised Veneman's name — among others — in discussions with members of Congress, two Democrats familiar with the conversations said.
The mention of Veneman's name surprised Democratic lawmakers. The low-profile Republican was close to food and agriculture industries but clashed with farm-state Democrats and environmentalists during her tenure, which lasted from 2001 to 2004.
But Veneman, 59, has a biography that could be suited to Obama's unifying message. A Republican raised on a California peach farm, she rose to become the nation’s first female agriculture secretary. In 2002 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was treated successfully. Today she serves as executive director of the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF.
The selection of a Republican could bolster Obama's unifying message, a Capitol Hill Democrat familiar with the discussion said.
"You select a strong independent woman who appeals to Republicans and independents, and so that's hard to beat," the Hill source said, explaining the logic of the possible choice. "Choosing someone like [Veneman] doesn't hurt you with the Democrats. It just doesn't hurt you. But it helps you with Independents and Republicans."
Veneman's is one of about a dozen names suggested by vetters in a round of meetings with members of the House and Senate within the last few weeks. Veneman's name, unlike the others, has not been previously reported.
Choosing Veneman would be a way to "show that he can get things done without all the partisanship," the Democrat familiar with the discussions said. "Her appeal would be nonideological. It would be, 'I'm just here to get the work done.' She's not a hot-button conservative."
Other Republicans mentioned as potential Obama running mates include Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, who accompanied him to Iraq, and retired Marine Gen. James Jones.
Though Veneman's biography and Republican affiliation make her a plausible, if surprising, candidate to be Obama's running mate, the mention of her name was met with incredulity on Capitol Hill.
"Are you serious?" one lawmaker asked vetters when Veneman's name came up, a second source familiar with the conversations said.
