Come One, Come All. It's Time For the Veepstakes!
August 3rd 2008 22:08
Well, step right up, step right up! Come one, come all, boys and girls and everything in between. It is time for the big show. Where passion and loyalties are exposed. Where strategies are born and the full picture is finally shown for young and old. Where the smallest, most unknown of the unknown quantities can rise to the top and send their career sky-rocketing to the top of the charts.
Beijing? What’s that? No, I’m not talking about the Olympics kicking off this Friday. I’m talking about something far more exciting. Yes folks. It’s time for the U.S. Veepstakes.
The fight for the coveted spot as running mate in the U.S. Presidential elections is, to some, more exciting than the race to see who the nominee becomes in the first place. For one, it can be anyone. When it comes to the nominee’s themselves, it becomes pretty clear who will win the primaries before they are even run (counting out the Obama-Clinton cat-fight earlier this year). When it comes to the VP the field is open until the decision is made. Governor? Maybe. Senator? Could be. House Representative? Even they get a look in. Hell, it might even be someone who has nothing to do with politics in the first place. It’s this kind of uncertainty that makes it all the more thrilling and potentially the most exciting thing leading up to the party conventions in a month’s time. We should know who the VP nominees are before the conventions but in the doldrums of election season where the candidates are gearing up for the big fight, this is the big ticket item for political pundits to salivate over.
So, let’s look at the contenders, shall we?
On the Democrat side we have a broad spectrum of different strokes for different folks. What Obama would be looking for is someone to counter his relative youth and inexperience on the national stage. Obama’s the type of guy that is going to need to look for a consummate politician to take the blows and dish them out so that he can come out of the race looking clean as a whistle without having to descend to the role of attack dog. There are a few horses in his race. Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was a Clinton acolyte before switching his support to Obama and the man brings the Hispanic vote along with having a number of years experience in foreign affairs from his time at the UN. There are a few Governor’s in talks as well, used to managing miniature versions of government in their own states, such as Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius (for the women’s vote) and Virginia’s Tim Kaine (for the Southern vote). I’m not one to ever count out Hillary Clinton but I doubt Hilldog would be willing to play second-fiddle to the upstart Barack Obama who crushed her nomination dreams a short time ago. No, I’m thinking Barack would be best to go with a man who has made “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” into his life’s motto: Delaware Senator Joe Biden. Biden’s a staple in the Democratic camp when you ask who should be President. But he’s never been able to gain enough momentum to get up and at 65 this might be his last shot. Biden has been in the Senate for 36 years and is an expert on foreign affairs. The experience of Biden, and his usefulness as a rabid attack dog should serve Obama well going into what is sure to be a rough General election campaign.
Now shift your attention right of centre and feast your eyes on who John McCain has on offer. Latest word has McCain seriously vetting the history of House Republican Eric Cantor: a 45 year old from Virginia who currently serves as Chief Minority Whip in the House and is one of the most prominent Jewish-Republican in Congress. What does Cantor bring to the table? Youth. The South, who have been known to have issues with some of McCain’s moderate-to-liberal policies. The strong Jewish community of Florida, which McCain needs to win to sustain a victory. Cantor is a strong pick but can he perform his role on the national stage? He is largely untested and would provide a huge risk to McCain, who has a lot of other good choices to pick from. Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana, is only 37 years old and so he takes the mantle of John McCain’s young running mate too. As a mainstream conservative he would serve to appease the area of the base that is nervous of John McCain’s credentials in that area and as an Indian-American would make moderates and liberals look twice at the McCain ticket. McCain has a few other Governors up his sleeve in the form of Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, who barely won re-election last time he was up, and South Carolina’s Mark Sanford, who would help sure up the votes of Southern conservatives nervous about McCain. There are his two main opponents in the primaries who probably won’t get a look in: Mitt Romney because of his and McCain’s firey feud with each other and Mike Huckabee because well… It’s Mike Huckabee. But I think I can help McCain out on this and point him in the right direction: Florida Governor Charlie Crist. Crist has been an immensely popular figure in his state, and will almost certainly deliver it to the Republicans come election time. He is an engaging speaker, is in favour of smaller government, shares McCain’s view on environmental protection and is known as “Florida’s first black governor” for his appeal to the African-American community. Crist is the man McCain should go with if he wants to secure Florida and have someone by his side who feels as strongly about his platform as he does.
So there you have it. We’ll soon see whether Biden and Crist come out on top. But with so many people in the running, I would have to be lucky to be even 50% right. That is what makes the Veepstakes so intriguing. You never know which way the chips are going to fall. But for those who look to the future, remember: most people who serve as VP aren’t like Dick Cheney. They are going to want to run for the top job when their time as VP is over. We aren’t just watching a VP picked. We’re watching the coronation of a future contender.
Beijing? What’s that? No, I’m not talking about the Olympics kicking off this Friday. I’m talking about something far more exciting. Yes folks. It’s time for the U.S. Veepstakes.
The fight for the coveted spot as running mate in the U.S. Presidential elections is, to some, more exciting than the race to see who the nominee becomes in the first place. For one, it can be anyone. When it comes to the nominee’s themselves, it becomes pretty clear who will win the primaries before they are even run (counting out the Obama-Clinton cat-fight earlier this year). When it comes to the VP the field is open until the decision is made. Governor? Maybe. Senator? Could be. House Representative? Even they get a look in. Hell, it might even be someone who has nothing to do with politics in the first place. It’s this kind of uncertainty that makes it all the more thrilling and potentially the most exciting thing leading up to the party conventions in a month’s time. We should know who the VP nominees are before the conventions but in the doldrums of election season where the candidates are gearing up for the big fight, this is the big ticket item for political pundits to salivate over.
So, let’s look at the contenders, shall we?
On the Democrat side we have a broad spectrum of different strokes for different folks. What Obama would be looking for is someone to counter his relative youth and inexperience on the national stage. Obama’s the type of guy that is going to need to look for a consummate politician to take the blows and dish them out so that he can come out of the race looking clean as a whistle without having to descend to the role of attack dog. There are a few horses in his race. Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was a Clinton acolyte before switching his support to Obama and the man brings the Hispanic vote along with having a number of years experience in foreign affairs from his time at the UN. There are a few Governor’s in talks as well, used to managing miniature versions of government in their own states, such as Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius (for the women’s vote) and Virginia’s Tim Kaine (for the Southern vote). I’m not one to ever count out Hillary Clinton but I doubt Hilldog would be willing to play second-fiddle to the upstart Barack Obama who crushed her nomination dreams a short time ago. No, I’m thinking Barack would be best to go with a man who has made “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” into his life’s motto: Delaware Senator Joe Biden. Biden’s a staple in the Democratic camp when you ask who should be President. But he’s never been able to gain enough momentum to get up and at 65 this might be his last shot. Biden has been in the Senate for 36 years and is an expert on foreign affairs. The experience of Biden, and his usefulness as a rabid attack dog should serve Obama well going into what is sure to be a rough General election campaign.
Now shift your attention right of centre and feast your eyes on who John McCain has on offer. Latest word has McCain seriously vetting the history of House Republican Eric Cantor: a 45 year old from Virginia who currently serves as Chief Minority Whip in the House and is one of the most prominent Jewish-Republican in Congress. What does Cantor bring to the table? Youth. The South, who have been known to have issues with some of McCain’s moderate-to-liberal policies. The strong Jewish community of Florida, which McCain needs to win to sustain a victory. Cantor is a strong pick but can he perform his role on the national stage? He is largely untested and would provide a huge risk to McCain, who has a lot of other good choices to pick from. Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana, is only 37 years old and so he takes the mantle of John McCain’s young running mate too. As a mainstream conservative he would serve to appease the area of the base that is nervous of John McCain’s credentials in that area and as an Indian-American would make moderates and liberals look twice at the McCain ticket. McCain has a few other Governors up his sleeve in the form of Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, who barely won re-election last time he was up, and South Carolina’s Mark Sanford, who would help sure up the votes of Southern conservatives nervous about McCain. There are his two main opponents in the primaries who probably won’t get a look in: Mitt Romney because of his and McCain’s firey feud with each other and Mike Huckabee because well… It’s Mike Huckabee. But I think I can help McCain out on this and point him in the right direction: Florida Governor Charlie Crist. Crist has been an immensely popular figure in his state, and will almost certainly deliver it to the Republicans come election time. He is an engaging speaker, is in favour of smaller government, shares McCain’s view on environmental protection and is known as “Florida’s first black governor” for his appeal to the African-American community. Crist is the man McCain should go with if he wants to secure Florida and have someone by his side who feels as strongly about his platform as he does.
So there you have it. We’ll soon see whether Biden and Crist come out on top. But with so many people in the running, I would have to be lucky to be even 50% right. That is what makes the Veepstakes so intriguing. You never know which way the chips are going to fall. But for those who look to the future, remember: most people who serve as VP aren’t like Dick Cheney. They are going to want to run for the top job when their time as VP is over. We aren’t just watching a VP picked. We’re watching the coronation of a future contender.
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