At the Obama rally in Alexandria, Obama opened the floor to questions. Obama only answered four questions, one from a young lady in a green sweater, a young man from the Ivory Coast, a young woman who was undecided, and a young male teacher.
Of course, I had my hand in the air, I wanted to know what qualities would he look for in his running mate? I did not get a chance to ask the question. However it appears that Obama is charmed by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. Does this mean that Obama will forego selecting a woman as his running mate.
If Obama support comes from women, it makes sense that his running mate will be a female. Otherwise, why are women voting for him, if he is support to be an agent of change surely he would not select a male.
What say you?
I disagree. You pick a running mate based upon who's votes you need to win in the general election, not upon who helped you get the nomination.
ReplyDeleteIn 1960, after a bitter primary struggle, the victorious Kennedy offered the VP to Johnson. He only did this as a concession to Johnson, realizing that as President he would need the help of this powerful Senator. None of the Kennedy people thought Johnson would accept. They just thought it would reduce some of the animosity between the two.
Of coures, Johnson quickly said "I do", and Kennedy was then honor bound to follow through with the marriage. - At least that's the way Arthur Schlesinger tells it.
Although identity plays a large role in picking our Presidents, the issues do have a prominent place also. But with the VP, it's all about identity. And this is used to balance the Presidential candidates own identity.
Bush Sr. looked old, so he balanced with young Quale. It was painfully obvious to even the most ardent of Bush Jr. supporters that he was not a braniac, so they balanced with the politically astute Chaney. Age, race, religion, geography, gender - whatever the indicator, people do acknowledge the candidates' identities when they vote.
The worst (talking strategic, not philosophical) mistake that Obama could make would be to pick a black VP. This would change his view among too many voters from being a candidate who just happens to be black to THE BLACK CANDIDATE.
Think back to Kennedy. Remeber how hard he struggled to make people see him as the candidate who just happened to be Catholic, instead of THE CATHOLIC CANDIDATE.
I think it would be a mistake also to pick a woman. A black or a woman President is a radical concept to a lot of people. A blak and a woman is downright scary. I'm not saying that this view is justifiable. I'm just pointing to what I believe is the reality of the matter, and that is if you put a black and a woman together on the same ticket too many people would reject that team regardless of what they are saying.
Obama is running as the agent of change, which is intriguing to a lot of people. But he has to convince a majority of them that he is just rocking the boat, not actually trying to turn it upside down. Obama has the words, and the charisma to deliver them. He needs to pick a VP that balances his identity. One that says "Change, but not anarchy." Obama should pick an elderly white male, one who doesn't talk much, but smiles and nods as Obama speaks, as if to imply "Yeah, this guys ok with US."
Now that's just for the first term of course. Once he's inside, he can can the old guy and pick Jesse Jackson or Maxine Waters for his second term.
If you don't agree with what I'm saying here, or want to question my motives, think about this. Nelson Mandela chose as one of his Deputy Presidents, F.W. de Klerk. Why would Nelson choose to work so closely with one of the men who had formerly enslaved him?
Because he knew it would radically alter the way his message was perceived. Instead of hearing "Look out whitey, we're coming to get you!" They heard "Change is imminent. There's a good way to do this, and a bad way to do it. We hope you'll pick the good way by working with US."
But hey, all that is just my opinion. If I really knew what I was talking about I'd run for President myself.