I don't keep up with politics like I used to, but I still love watching the pundits when I get the chance. With John McCain clinching the Republican nomination last night, one panel discussion moved to the topic of speculation on his choices for a Vice-Presidential running mate.
The panelists seem to come back to the idea that the best running mate would be a governor--someone with executive experience. Then the thought came to me--how far fetched in one way, yet how fitting in another. What about "McCain/Bush in 2008." I'm not talking about either of the presidents with that name. I'm talking about Jeb Bush.
Bush is a popular young two-term former Governor of Florida (the first Republican to be re-elected to that post), and a Roman Catholic who has shown himself to be popular with Cuban, Hispanic, and Jewish voters. I'm still not sure if that would be a good choice or not, but it would generate more interest than any other I can think of (except perhaps for Ron Paul, but I don't see that hawk and dove combination any time soon).
Then that got me thinking on the potential choice for the Democrats. Since Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are still running so close, it's not really time to consider that yet. It seems to me that for either of them, the needs for a running mate would be similar. Like McCain, both are senators, and so they could also use someone like a governor--someone with executive experience, with connections, But unlike McCain, both Clinton and Obama are still new to Washington. Clinton began her second term in 2007 and Obama began his first term in 2005.
Each could use a running mate with a bit more experience to draw from--someone who has been there and done that and has the talent and ability to get things done. And as this will surely be another close and hard-fought presidential race, having a good charismatic campaigner would be a tremendous benefit and could even make the difference. And given that this nomination may go down to the wire and even be decided at the convention, you would want a choice that would wow the Democrats, bring them together, and build enthusiasm for the general election.
You may be ahead of me by this point. Wouldn't a logical and helpful choice for a Vice-Presidential running mate be none other than . . . Bill Clinton?
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I saw Bill Clinton discussing this with David Letterman on the latter's show recently. Apparently most legal scholars who have examined the issue think that the male Clinton, as a former two-term President, is now not eligible to be Vice President either, since he can no longer become President.
On the Republican side, I like Huckabee for VP.
I don't think there would be any election or even succession problems according to the Constitution. If he succeeded, he just wouldn't be able to run again. The 22nd Amendment reads: "Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice..."
Well, wait a minute. I stand corrected, as the 12th Amendment reads: "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."
... the Catholic NGO that I work with has already run that by Jeb... and we were ready to offer him the endorsement of 2 million Catholic young people! Nothing doing.
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