Questions for our future Vice President

After watching the first Presidential debate, I was hungering for the next one. How would Obama and McCain change their rhetoric or positions? Of course, I'll have to wait an extra week before I find out because there just happens to be a Vice Presidential debate this week in St. Louis. I got to thinking how sad it was that we only get one VP debate. I mean, that only gives us one glimpse of the two candidates and only one chance to see them head-to-head. I know they aren't as important as the Presidential candidates, but I'd like to see them twice so they both have a chance to redeem themselves in case of an epic failure or misspoken phrase (or more).

We get only one shot however this year and it should be a doozy. Gwen Ifill, senior corespondent for the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, will be hosting the event that pits Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R) against one another at the same table, eye to eye.

What questions should be asked, I was thinking to myself.. I mean if there is one thing that we've learned over the past eight years it is that Vice Presidents can be VERY powerful. So here's a little list of a few questions I came up with:

• What non-American person of the past century do you look to for inspiration and how do you believe you've followed their path?


• What Vice President of the past 100 years do you think has made the most difference and which do you think you would like to emulate?


• What person in the past 25 years, who is of the opposite party, do you admire and what do you think can be learned from them?


• As Senate President you have the tie-breaking vote, in what situation would you use that vote to go against the President or your party?


• What issue do you believe will define your tenure as Vice President?


• In a crisis situation, what position do you see yourself fulfilling for the President, if elected?


• In the past two years there has been much talk about the institutional position of the Vice President, do you see the Vice President primarily as a member of the Executive or Legislative branch?


• What role do you think experience should play in the selection of our next President of the United States?


• What mistake that you have made so far in your career will help you be a better Vice President?


• What is one thing about your party's candidate that you would change or dislike?


• What makes you want to serve your running mate and what made you apprehensive?


• What advice would you offer the other candidate for the remainder of election?


• What about your financial plan/Iraq plan is better than your opponents and how do you see yourself passing it in a bipartisan fashion?


• How important will bipartisanship be for your Administration, and how will you prove to Americans that you are working for them as Vice President?

I'm sure there are many more.. and I may add a few later as an Update but... What do you think? Anything you'd like to see asked? Think of a few questions that would apply to both candidates and submit them and then we'll see if Ms. Ifill asks anything similar.

1st Debate: Evasion of the Image Changers

I watched the debate as I'm sure 30 or 40 million other Americans did.. then I watched it again.. then I read the transcript and I read it again. My only question was, is this 2008?

Here's why. Both Senator John McCain and Barack Obama were playing a very old game or as both campaigns (but particularly Obama's) would say "old politics."

Overall Impression of each Candidate:

Obama: Came out strong, showed economy was his issue, faltered on national security, basically let McCain win on a few foreign policy questions because he didn't have any substance to go off of

McCain: Sounded wobbly and ambiguous on the economy, strong suite came out nicely - international relations, used a few underhanded scare tactics but not too overtly, tried to show off his earmark reform work

Both candidates were playing an old game of trying to gain big leverage by doing a face-to-face image change. What do I mean? Did you notice how many times they both accused the other of saying one thing and doing another? Both candidates were trying desperately to go for the knockout punch: the image change. They pointed out what their opponents image is now.. and what they believe it should be. That kind of tactic, if successful, can lead to BIG jumps/drops in the polls especially amongst independents. There is a problem with that though...

WE KNOW THE CANDIDATES! WE HAVE HEARD/SEEN THEM EVERYDAY FOR a touch under TWO YEARS! That game worked back when the primary seasons were shorter, the budgets were smaller, and the debates might be the first time undecided voters got serious about choosing who to vote for. In recent years though, with a President or Vice President running in every election since the turn of the century, there has been a strong connection between the "history" of a candidate's image and their election image.

This election though we have two candidates who are both running against the sitting President and have told us time and time again that we should focus on the issues. Guess what? Most Independents already do. So to stand at a podium and try to change the other candidates image is a waste of time.. instead contrast yourself against their positions and tell us why you are any better than the other guy.

It boils down to this: McCain has most to lose by being linked to Bush and he has avoided him and his positions like the dickens, but McCain has no real way of linking Obama to failed policies in the same way because there just isn't that long of a record! McCain should link Bush to Obama through the (in)experience attack route. Wait... that would also be a bigger slam of his own VP though (who by the way is totally in over her head, has anyone seen the Couric interview?!).

For the next debate I think seeing a decisive defeat is very possible for Obama. Town hall meetings are the places you find McCain the most comfortable. He has the knowledge and has the ability to start out slow on any response then ramp up into the rhetoric and get a crowd behind him with very little effort Obama on the other hand hasn't held too many Town halls and he tends to sort of stutter when he is thinking through his response. Hey, I'm glad he is thinking but stuttering makes him sound weak and wobbly.

The only upside for the Obama campaign until the last debate should be Biden scoring a clear victory in the Vice Presidential debate. Biden does face a few problems though, he doesn't want to seem too knowledgeable (or he risks overshadowing Obama), or too mean (gives Palin the sympathy vote), or talk too much (because he is a gaffe-machine). Palin on the other hand is trying too hard to seem like an expert on foreign policy but it backfiring because she is trying to be someone she isn't. Her key to success will be making a connection to the audience and staying within her own league and only going out to bat on information she feels comfortable with. (Also, not repeating the moderator and her opponent's first names a million times would help.. Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, etc...) Other bad news for Palin is that she has has more difficulties when dealing with women questioners/interviewers and it just so happens that Gwen Ifill, senior correspondent for the News Hour, is the moderator for her debate. She not only focus her prep on dealing with the political veteran across the table but also with being able to handle Ms. Ifill when questions start flying about Woman's issues. Palin would be best prepared should she take lesson from McCain's performance and change her tune to one that will seem sympathetic considering she is not a major player in foreign policy and her party is feeling the heat due to the financial crisis. For the first time she will not be dealing with either a one-on-one interview or a sympathetic crowd, so she has to be able to play to a neutral audience and try to win them over. Should be fun to watch anyhow!

Feel free to leave comments!

Rove: Biden is a "blowhard doofus"

Honestly the most surprising thing about the comment made by Karl Rove at a dinner at the GOP convention was that he didn't curse. Now I know that there are a lot of differing opinions about Karl Rove and his tactics but everyone has to admit, the guy is a genius of winning campaigns. He's the James Carville of the 2000's.

Rove was telling a room full of people that what he thought of Obama's VP pick when he relayed to them the fact that everyone in Washington who is familiar with the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee knows that Joseph Biden (the chair) is verbose and often doesn't know when to stop talking. In Rove's words that makes him a "blowhard doofus".

This comment could be serving one of two purposes - he could have just spoke this off the top of his head to a little table full of die-hard GOPers or he could have been aware that someone was bound to leak this to the press (as any Rove quote seems to do) and would prompt the media to seriously ask the question, "Is Biden really a blowhard doofus?!" Since the Press seems to have replaced with ratings mongerers and people who believe the press's role is primarily to entertain not inform, the quote is makings its rounds on all the 24 hr cable news channels.

Biden loves making his point.. and another.. and another..

But.. is he? and what does that mean? Biden is very, very, very talkative. If there was some sort of superlative for verbose... I'd call him that. (Incidentally, if you know one tell me) I've been to, watched, and listened to quite a few of his Committee hearings and boy.. does he talk. His problem is that he has so much knowledge to share and tends to go on tangents.. so one tangent leads to another, leads to another.. This is where the gaffe-machine comes in. Every once in awhile, he says something that while you can tell it is purely innocent sounds TERRIBLE without context. I don't think anyone really thinks Biden is sexist, racist or a bigot of any kind but sometime the way stuff comes out of his mouth and then get printed... it makes people who are unfamiliar with him wonder.

Does that disqualify him or reduce his ability to be Vice-President? No, not really but it does give some serious heartburn to the Obama press team who have to be ready to put out fires wherever Biden goes. If I remember correctly, the current President wasn't exactly the well-oiled slick nominee that Barack Obama is.. and he managed to win. There is a fundamental difference between a lovable doofus and an incompetent one. The real task comes down to Joe Biden working his hardest to keep himself focused and reduce his talk time. The backup task goes to the Democratic PR people to present Biden as a loveable guy who just has so many good stories he can't stop himself.. a guy that just wants to share.. and share.. and share.

If they can do that they will be able to reduce the effectiveness of the Republicans who will pounce on every misstep or missquote. So far however Obama is looking like a Teflon Nominee and Biden may change that or just cling to the Teflon just as hard as he can!


Links:

Biden reacts to Rove insult - CNN

Democratic Convention Coverage

The Democratic Convention this week in Denver, CO will be a collection of liberals and media personnel getting drunk in the Mile High City 24 hrs a day for 5 days. There. If I didn't say another word that ought to be the boiled down straight talk version of the event... but I don't want everyone to hate me, so I'll give it a little more flourish.

The purpose of these conventions, both Democrat and Republican, is to get together and energize the party base and activists while holding a coming out party for the Presidential candidates. The convention is like a handover ceremony, from now until November the Presidential candidates are in full control of their parties in every way. Forget the sitting President, their respective party chief, high-profile politicians, or even common sense. Whatever the candidate says.. is what the party says. Oh, and what better way to have that ceremony than having a huge party in Denver or St. Paul?!

In addition to the ecstasy that each party experiences when they all congregate in one place, the media is treated like royalty and often are just as inebriated (that is drunk) as everyone else. For the media it is like taking a wonderful vacation, all their talking points are fed to them from either party releases or opposition groups and they get all kind of perks. Think about it, when else do TV anchors get to cover 5 day long circuses complete with a big top, balloons, confetti, parrots, monkeys and hooligans? I know I wouldn't miss it for the world!

Enough about that, though. I'll be keeping you updated if anything really interesting happens outside the alcoholic pomp. Stay Tuned.

CNN: Obama Picks Biden for VP

CNN, MSNBC, and the AP are reporting that Barack Obama has picked Delaware Senator Joseph Biden to run with him as his Vice Presidential candidate. Joe Biden is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is a respected member of the Senate for many years (he is in his sixth term). Sen. Biden himself ran as a Presidential candidate this cycle but dropped out shortly after the Iowa results came in. Barack Obama should announce this decision at a rally in Springfield today(Saturday August 23rd)

UPDATE: 12:35PM CT - A protective detail of secret service agents has been dispatched to Sen. Biden's Lake House in Delaware where the Bidens are currently at. This would be in addition to reports of at least one, possibly two, police cars parked in his drive way and patrols by local law enforcement which has been stepped up within the past half-hour.

More information as it becomes avaliable.

Obama VP Rumblings...

Well the Obama campaign could make their big announcement anytime now... the Vice Presidential pick... They have precious little time to do it especially since the VP candidate will have to speak on Wednesday night at the Democratic convention in Denver, CO. So.. there is a countdown until they find the right way to break the news.

Well, after looking after all of my posts I found that I've never brought up Barack Obama's possible picks for running mate outside of the the context of Senator Chuck Hagel however those posts focused on why Hagel would not be the a good VP pick for Obama. So.. although making predictions so close to an announcement is pretty stupid.. here it goes.. the top two contenders are: Indiana Senator Evan Bayh or Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. [Some would wonder why I left out Senator Joe Biden.. he ruled himself out, so I say adios to him and good luck with the Senate Foreign Affairs committee, maybe next time ol' pal.]

Senator Evan Bayh:

Pros:
1) From Indiana, a swing state
2) Is popular amongst whites, rural voters
3) Can speak pretty well about the economy
4) Attacks Republican rhetoric very well
5) Is a Centrist Democrat
6) Is on the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affair, Committee on Armed Services, and Select Committee on Intelligence
7) Known to have a 100% rating from NAACP and other civil rights groups

Cons:
1) Scandal! Possible inappropriate relationship between his office and his wife's business interests
2) Is a Centrist Democrat
3) Co-sponsored the Iraq War authorization resolution (along with Senator John McCain)
4) His father was Senator, he "inherited" the position

Governor Tim Kaine:

Pros:
1) White, popular with rural and blue-collar voters
2) Virginia is a swing state that Obama is targeting..
3) Knows Spanish
4) Is Catholic, which could help ease worries about Obama's concern for conservative Christians
5) Gave the Democratic response to the 2006 State of the Union Address (I watched it.. he did a pretty good job at delivering the rhetoric)
6) Is "Green"
7) Says he is against Abortion
8) Opposes Same-Sex Marriage
9) First public figure outside of Illinois to endorse Obama's candidacy for President (and that goes a long way my friends.. a loooong way)

Cons:
1) He's Catholic
2) Virginia is a little too close to the Beltway
3) Young
4) Inexperienced outside of being the Mayor of Richmond, Lt. Gov, then Gov. of Virginia
5) Says he is against Abortion
6) Opposes Same-Sex Marriage


Oh yeah.. and Obama could pick Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius but that's for another day... ;)


Links:

Speculation, anticipation as Obama's VP announcement nears - CNN
Obama: I've decided on my running mate - CNN