McHindsight

My lunchtime reading today took me to this Feb 2008 NYTimes article speculating about McCain's running mate choice. Given the ultimate selection of Sarah Palin, the post-convention media blackout surrounding her, and most recently her "Charlie" Gibson interview, there are some particularly interesting quotes, given our advantage of hindsight.

Others said his age would simply heighten his need to choose somebody whom voters would feel comfortable with as president should anything happen to him. (Not to be morbid, but eight vice presidents have succeeded presidents who died in office.)

Mr. McCain said in a recent interview that he had not even settled on how the vice presidential selection process would work, let alone whom it might select, but added, “We all know that the highest priority is someone who can take your place.”

...

“Reagan had a quote ‘age’ issue in 1980,” Mr. Black said. “It wouldn’t go away until the day he picked George Bush as vice president. And then people said, well, here’s a known quantity, the guy has experience, including international experience, and, yeah, he could handle it.”

...

“I think his nominee, his choice for vice president, is going to be very important for party regulars, and also in terms of his or her capability someday to succeed as president,” Mr. [Jack] Kemp said, noting that vice presidents usually eventually run for president.

...

“I think nowadays that any presidential candidate has to pick somebody who is a plausible president,” said Joel K. Goldstein, a professor of law at St. Louis University who studies the vice presidency. “I think you can’t put a bozo or a mediocrity on the ticket just because he is the most popular official in a state with 20-plus electoral votes.”

...

“I don’t think McCain will have to worry much about finding a younger candidate — and he would be well advised to remember Dan Quayle if he does so,” said Paul C. Light, a professor of public service at New York University. “It’s not age that he will battle this fall, but vision.”


Interesting comments and quotes in hindsight, given this:




Anyways, I'm hesitant to delve into politics too much on our blog, but I just thought the contrast between general speculation on VP selections in February and the all the publicity - good and bad - that Palin is getting was interesting. Really, I think that this mildly inflammatory post sums it up best for me. The Palin discussion is important in the whole "heartbeat from the presidency" sense, but more important is having the discussion of how McCain's and Obama's positions, policies, and vision for our country's place in the world differ, and which of those two approaches to governance is better for us all. I guess I kind of contradicted myself by posting this then, huh? Oh well, at least I didn't say anything about invading Pakistan.

< /soapbox >