Obama is in a rather unique position for a Presidential Candidate. He already has all of his core demographics, and most of the independents playing in his court. Sure, the election is far from won, but it's not like there's more than 5% chance of McCain winning at this point. This is playing from a position of strength.
From a strong position, about the worst thing Obama could do is pick someone gaffe prone, or someone who is perceived to 'shore up' Obama on anything. Gaffes have the potential to derail the campaign, and having a Vice Presidential Candidate who is only able to talk about one particular area of policy -- or who is perceived to be strong there, is not ideal.
That goes doubly so when it comes to Foreign Policy -- a nasty hairsnest of different ideas, ideals, and realpolitik. Poblano may have a point about making the election about foreign policy (not Iraq. Iraq compresses nicely in the public mind.). There may be too much opportunity cost to focusing on it.
The idea is that independents and swing voters are more likely to make decisions based on their pocketbook. Obama has a lot of the public eye, if he can commandingly own that issue, McCain will be stuck saying that $5million is what he considers rich.
This is not to say that I deride anyone who is strong in Foreign Policy... far from it. I'm just saying that someone needs to be able to refocus their strengths and play on the team -- not just the know-it-all on one particular subject.
So, if Obama shouldn't be trying to shore up his grasp of issues, what is there for him to find a VEEP? Well, first and foremost, a Veep must work well on a team, must be able to enact anything and work within Obama's vision. I'm sure there's at least a million candidates who fit that description, many of them among myDD.
There is experience, of course. I think that's enough said about that subject. Nobody wants a wet-behind-the-ears guy reinforcing our already 'not-so-experienced' guy at the top.
Obama has the opportunity to reinforce the change meme, the historic meme, and the outsider meme. All three of these are powerful motivators -- the historic meme brings out Democrats (who like the touchyfeely rahrah We Are Getting Better meme). The change and outsider memes bring out the squeezed (i.e. unemployed or underemployed) and the rational Republican, respectively.
This is why a good friend of mine puts it at 60% Sebelius. A solid mild-mannered governor, with a hell of a persuasive streak.
I'd love to see Clark on the ticket, because I would like to see a genius on the ticket. And because while he can own foreign policy, he's got the chops to make global warming into a military issue.
As a sidenote: I find it really interesting that this site seems so fixed on foreign policy. I think other sites membership have been hitting the outsider meme a lot harder. Thoughts?
|
|
|
Permalink :: 19 Comments :: Post a Comment
|
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.
