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Obama Tries for “Balance,” While McCain Goes “Maverick in Veep Choices

Can this presidential campaign get any stranger? For a political junky, there’s much so far to be impressed with. I’m impressed that we have a black man as the nominee of a major party. I’m impressed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D, NY) pushed the party unity message hard during the convention and seems to have prevailed. I’m impressed a GOP candidate would congratulate his Democrat opponent on his nomination and do it through a national TV ad, and I’m impressed the GOP would choose a woman as a running mate.

Most agree, the vice presidential candidate is less important to most voters than the person at the top of the ticket. And I think it’s fair to say the pickings for both presidential candidates were not as “robust,” as they say, as they could have been.

So let’s take a look at the respective candidate veep choices — at least from my point of view.

Sen. Barack Obama (D, IL) picks Sen. Joe Biden (D, DE) as his running mate. Here are the positives to that pick:

Experience — Biden’s been in the Senate for nearly 40 years.
Political stance — Biden’s generally considered a moderate, but leans liberal which appeals to Democrat stalwarts.
International affairs expertise — Biden is the former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Age — Biden balances out Obama’s relative youth.
Racial balance — Obvious
Confidence — Biden, through the primary process in more than one cycle, has been vetted as to whether he’s qualified to be president.
Media recognition — Significant

Here are the negatives to Biden, as I see them:

“Insider” status — Biden is being called the “quintessential DC insider” by critics, in contrast to what Obama says he’s against.
Vulnerability — You don’t work in DC for nearly 40 years and not pick up baggage, whether votes you regret, alliances you regret or other factors you can’t/didn’t control.
Temperament — Biden can come off as aloof and sometimes condescending
Self-control — Biden is known to “shoot from the lip” as one pundit put it, often speaking first and thinking about it later, especially when he’s in attack mode.
Public recognition — Less than 25% of Americans say they’ve never heard of Joe Biden — and the man ran for President in several primaries.

Obama passed on Sen. Evan Bayh (D, IN), perhaps because Bayh is a Democrat stalwart, but not that exciting a guy. He passed on Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico for reasons not obvious to outside observers. And he passed on Clinton, which I’m sure will be a fascinating story to read when the books are published in four or eight years.

Now, as to Gov. Sara Palin of Alaska, she’s so relatively unknown this is tough. However, here are the positives as I see them:

“Change” — Palin is certainly a different tactic for the GOP, and will be sold as the ultimate “DC outsider,” bringing new perspectives and untainted record.
Political stance — Politically conservative, balancing McCain’s “moderate” label, and appealing to the extreme right of the GOP. Both call themselves “mavericks.”
Gender and age — Critics contend McCain, at 72, is too old to be president. Palin is 43 and the “hockey mom” of five, married to a native Yup’ik. It’s obvious McCain hopes her gender will appeal to women and those Hillary voters still angry at how their candidate was treated in the primaries.
Experience — She’s a two-term mayor of Wasilla, AK, and has run the state government since 2006, gaining a reputation as a fiscal conservative.
Balance — She brings domestic program affinity to balance McCain’s international focus. She’s a strong right-to-life GOPer, balancing McCain’s position.
Media Recognition — Nearly nonexistent, but that’s changing as I type this.

Here are Palin’s negatives as I see them:

Age and experience — She’s very young, has only been the mayor a small Alaska town, and has only been governor for two years. Is she ready to step into McCain’s shoes if something happens to him?
Gender — Does McCain believe most women will vote for him just because he put a woman on the ticket? He’s old enough to remember Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro, and when combined with the Clinton candidacy, it’s pretty obvious gender is no protection from political attack.
Recognition — Nobody outside of Alaska — and McCain’s camp — knows who she is.

I’ve not listened to the pundits at this point, nor have I heard McCain talk about the why’s of his choice of Palin. It’s apparent Gov. Mitt Romney was out of the running earlier than folks figured, likely based on residual bad blood from the primary season and the fact Romney is just too darn rich. I never understood what Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota brought to the GOP ticket. Yeah, he’s been a good governor and his conservative credentials are impeccable, but again, no one’s heard of Tim Pawlenty.

Well, the choices are what they are, and the race is now on. Come next week in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the spin machines will be running in overdrive — in both campaign. And after that, both tickets will be after raw meat.

Only in America.