Their First Big Choice

I'm going to interrupt the travelogue for some politics.

The first meaningful decision a presidential candidate makes (in the eyes of the voters, at least) is choosing his VP. Let's be honest, almost no one votes for a ticket based on the veep. Per the constitution, the vice-president's only duties are to serve as a tie-breaking vote in the senate and to take the president's place in case he's incapacitated or killed. Of course, choosing someone you can work with should also be part of the equation. The senate duties are a technicality in that the VP takes his marching orders from the prez. However, choosing the next in succession is serious business. For latter, the choice should indicate who the nominee feels is the next best person in the party to step in.

For Obama, Clinton would appear to have been the next best to step in. However, she clearly failed the working together test. Of the remaining choices of people who seemed to be interested in being president, either Richardson or Biden would have fit the bill and both have the foreign policy experience that he lacks. The downside for Obama is that both undercut his "new way of doing business" message.

McCain has clearly gone the Bush I route to pick someone obscure to mollify the conservative base. Sarah Palin is no more (or less) qualified to be VP than Dan Quayle was. However, in that year Dukakis chose the august Lloyd Bentsen to be his running mate, and that didn't work out so well for the democrats.

McCain can't seriously think that she is the second most qualified republican to be president, a particular concern as he would be 72 when he's sworn in and has a history of cancer. Hell, she's not even the most qualified republican woman to be president (see Olympia Snowe and Elizabeth Dole, for instance). And it's not like winning Alaska is going to make or break the election. He clearly feels that by choosing her he can attract the anti-choice Hillary supporters (all 12 of them) and burnish his conservative bona fides. And, she knows a lot about polar bears.

This obviously shows that McCain's first big decision was driven by politics and not the future good of the country. Then again, elections are all about winning. And, we've had some pretty good accidental presidents (Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman).