This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Democratic nomination for

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

in the 2004 election. Massachusetts Senator

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

won the 2004 Democratic nomination for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

, and chose North Carolina Senator

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...

as his running mate on July 6, 2004. The Kerry–Edwards ticket would go on to lose the 2004 election to the

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

– Cheney ticket.

Selection

One of the major criteria considered to be a factor in selecting a vice-presidential candidate was the ability to deliver a traditionally Republican or a

swing state In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pres ...

in the November election. Every successful Democratic presidential campaign since 1960 had included a politician from a swing state (usually in the South) who helped deliver one or more states for the Democrats. As of late June, the charismatic Edwards was the first choice of Democratic voters, according to several polls; some pundits attributed this to high

name recognition In politics, name recognition is the ability a voter has to identify a candidate's name due to a certain amount of previous exposure through various campaigning methods. It can be described as the awareness voters have about specific candidates r ...

, due to his runner-up status in the primaries.

Reported Shortlist

Pundits and those close to the Kerry campaign indicated that the vice-presidential selection had narrowed to five potential choices. File:General Wesley Clark official photograph, edited.jpg, File:John Edwards, official Senate photo portrait (cropped 3x4).jpg, File:Dick Gephardt color.jpg, File:BobGrahamCropped.jpg, File:Tom Vilsack ChangeGov Press (cropped).jpg,

Announcement

On the morning of July 6, 2004, Kerry announced the selection of John Edwards as his running mate. However, at 10 p.m. on the night before the official announcement, the information was leaked by an airport worker who saw Edwards's name being painted on Kerry's plane, which was to be used to announce his choice of running mate. On July 6, the Kerry campaign sent an

e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic (digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

message to his supporters at about 8:15 a.m. EDT informing them of the choice, and made the formal announcement for 9 a.m. EDT in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Media speculation on possible vice presidential candidates

Members of Congress

File:Evan Bayh official portrait v2.jpg, File:BidenJ.jpg, File:Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ).jpg, File:Cleland.jpg, File:Hrcofficial.jpg, File:James Clyburn, official Congressional Majority Whip photo.jpg, File:Tom Daschle, official Senate photo.jpg, File:Richard Durbin official photo (cropped).jpg, File:John Edwards, official Senate photo portrait (cropped 3x4).jpg, File:Dianne Feinstein congressional portrait.jpg, File:Dick Gephardt color.jpg, File:John Glenn Low Res.jpg, File:BobGrahamCropped.jpg, File:Bio hamilton.jpg, File:TedKennedy(D-MA).jpg, File:Senator Bob Kerrey.jpg, File:Mary Landrieu2004.jpg, File:John Lewis official portrait 2003.jpg, File:Joe Lieberman 2008.jpg, File:Blanche Lincoln, 2007.jpg, File:John McCain.jpg, File:Bill Nelson.jpg, File:Sam Nunn.jpg, File:Nancy Pelosi official portrait.jpg, Governors File:Janet Napolitano in November, 2011 (cropped).jpg, File:Bill richardson.jpg, File:Ed Rendell ID2004 crop (cropped).JPG, File:JeanneShaheen.JPG, File:Tom Vilsack ChangeGov Press (cropped).jpg, File:Mark Warner, official 111th Congress photo portrait (cropped).jpg,

Federal executive branch officials

File:Pr4262ls-treasury-rubin.jpg,

Other individuals

File:General Wesley Clark official photograph, edited.jpg, File:Anthony Zinni, official military photo portrait.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, 2004 John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign John Kerry John Edwards Vice presidency of the United States Hillary Clinton Joe Biden Evan Bayh Mark Warner