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REYNOLDS |
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Who Should Be Veep for McCain?
by John Mark Reynolds [author,
academic] 5/5/08
Theodore Roosevelt was such a dynamic candidate that he towered over the President who chose him as running mate. Even though the popular Rough Rider may have helped William McKinley, there is little doubt that McKinley would have won with just about anybody not criminally insane (or at least known to be criminally insane) on the ticket.
I cannot think of one vice-presidential pick that has won or lost a race by him or Ferraro-self. A vice-presidential pick can do some harm even to a winner (Quayle for Bush), help a loser (Bentson for Dukakis) or he may do no harm, but not help much either (Kemp for Dole, Cheney for Bush). It is even hard to think of a recent case where a vice presidential pick “delivered” a state, unless one is ancient enough to think of 1960 as recent (Johnson helped in Texas by hook and by crook). Edwards could not do it for Kerry to cite on recent example of failure.
Contributor
John Mark Reynolds
John
Mark Reynolds is the founder and director of
the Torrey Honors Institute and Associate Professor
of Philosophy at Biola University.His
personal website can be found at www.johnmarkreynolds.com and
his blog can be found at http://scriptoriumdaily.com.
[go to Reynolds index] |
There five general reasons to pick a vice presidential candidate. I have listed them and picked the best person for McCain if he wants to “go that way.” I grade each prospect looking for Teddy Roosevelt to help John McCain.
1. Excitement (the first X ever! a hero!)
It worked: Theodore Roosevelt for McKinley
It failed: Ferraro for Mondale.
McCain:
Youth! Bobby Jindal (B) Too young?
Women! Sarah Palin (C) Not the best interview.
Pure Excitement! Condoleezza Rice (B-) Pro-choice?
2. Balance (Let’s get some credibility with x region or constituency)
It worked: Johnson in the South for New England’s J.F. Kennedy
It failed: Edwards in the South for Kerry, Kemp with conservatives for Dole.
Ideological Examples: Bush the Moderate for Reagan, Quayle the Family Values Guy for George H.W. Bush
McCain Choices:
Mitt Romney (fiscal conservatives): B-
Mike Huckabee (social conservatives): B-
Region:
3. Putting a State in Play (X will force them to campaign in X’s home state at the very least!),
It worked: Lyndon Johnson for John F. Kennedy in Texas.
It failed: Edwards for Kerry.
Tim Pawlenty (Minnestota): B
John Kasich (Ohio): B
4. Adding to Strength (the voters will love more of me)
It worked: Gore for Clinton.
It failed: (Only Clinton had the nerve to try it.)
McCain:
Joe Lieberman: another pro-war guy with appeal to independents who frequently angers his own party (C)
5. Do No Harm (A safe and sane pick that will soon be forgotten in terms of the race.)
It worked: George W. Bush with Dick Cheney in 2000.
It failed: Thomas Eagleton for George McGovern.
(These picks must be “A” level by the nature of the category, but the nature of the category also means they may not be the best choice.)
Christopher Cox: A-
Mark Sanford: A
Kay Bailey Hutchinson: A
And the winner should be (but probably will not be):
The best overall choice today: Bobby Jindal. Social conservatives love him. Fiscal conservatives adore him. The entire party knows he is the rising star . . . and his pick would put a weaker base state far out of play. The day he is picked the party of Lincoln would shake the old white guy image . . . for the day he was picked. That would be refreshing, even if short lived!
Jindal has good experience, is young, a great communicator, and is very smart. The rap on Jindal is that he is young, but he has at least as much political experience as Senator Obama. The contrast between their two resumes would be great. Even in defeat Jindal would be put in position to lead the party next time around as nobody would blame him for a Republican loss in this tough year.
There is no chance that Jindal would harm the ticket and he would surely help at the margins as good picks do. ExileStreet
copyright
2008 John Mark Reynolds
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