Friday, August 29, 2008

Let’s Talk VPs

I typically don’t pay much attention to Vice Presidential candidates, but after experiencing Cheney for the last 8 years, I’ve decided it’s more important this time around.  Don’t get me wrong, I think Dick Cheney was probably the best VP choice Bush could have made, because he’s probably the single biggest reason Bush hasn’t been assassinated. 

But I’m hoping the candidates this time around have bigger goals for their VP selections than “insurance policy.”

So Obama picked Joe Biden.  Makes sense to pick someone with experience, particularly in foreign affairs.  And he’s an excellent debater.  But I wonder if Biden’s tendency toward political incorrectness will be a liability.  Obama has already had to forgive him publicly for a verbal misstep. 

And I’m not sure how much “experience” will make the difference when we’re talking about someone who thought an appropriate response to 9-11 would be to send Iran a check for $200 million, “no strings attached,” so that we can “show the Arab world we’re not bent on destruction.”

But I find the Republican VP nomination to be far more interesting.  Today, on his 72nd birthday, John McCain picked 44 year old Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin.

Ok.  Didn’t see that coming.

It makes perfect sense on some levels.  She’s young - perhaps that’s an attempt to balance out John McCain’s age, but I wonder if it will just end up making him look older. 

She’s a woman.  An attempt to out-minority Obama?  Probably.  An attempt to win over Hillary Voters?  I hope the GOP isn’t that naive.  Although I’m told there is a group of Hillary Revenge voters who are planning to vote Republican out of spite (in which case they don’t need a woman on the ticket), I’ve never met a Hillary supporter concerned about the issues who would ever consider voting Republican.

She’s attractive.  She’s very popular in her state.  She’s intelligent.  She’s a mother.  She’s likable, which John McCain is not.

But she’s also inexperienced.  Her resume tops out at two years as Governor of a state with one of the lowest populations in the country.  But hey, John McCain has enough experience for two people, right?

She’s a lot of things that John McCain needs.  At first glance, I like her.  But ready to step in as Commander in Chief should something happen to the President?  I’m not convinced.  And I’m a little worried about how she’s going to hold up to Biden in the debates.

I’m also wondering how seriously John McCain takes his own VP pick.  Obviously it’s a political move to win votes but I wonder if a 72-year old, dyed-in-the-wool politician who loves nothing more than touting the fact that he’s been in politics since the Civil War would ever listen to a 44 year old woman with 2 years of Governor experience.  Or did he just hire a pretty face to do as she’s told, “inquire daily as to the health of the president, and ... attend the funerals of Third World dictators.”

I guess only time will tell.

However, I must say that I find it pleasantly ironic that after all the fighting, back-biting, twisting and money spent by the Clinton campaign, this lady is closer to getting into a presidential capacity than Hillary ever was.