vice-president

These days, the Vice President’s job is worth more than a bucket of warm spit

Late night comics have had a field day with Vice-President Joe Biden, making fun of his penchant for verbosity. In the early weeks of the Obama presidency, Biden occasionally proved to be exactly what some feared he would be—accident-prone. But it seems Biden is a fast learner, as his stock around the Obama people appears to be rising daily. The man that this blog once characterized as providing gravitas to a young up-and-comer’s candidacy is doing just that. In the final moments of the debates over healthcare reform and the mission in Afghanistan, expect Biden to be the last man in the room with Obama when decision time comes.

Sarah Palin’s resignation has led many of her supporters to criticize the way she has been treated by the media. Some have gone further by suggesting some of her boneheaded statements (“You can see Russia from land here in Alaska”) were the object of exaggerated ridicule. Meanwhile, the more controversial statements of her vice-presidential rival, Joe Biden, were never met with the same level of derision as those of Palin. Some bloggers have alluded to Biden’s controversial and potentially damaging late campaign comment that Obama would be tested early on national security.

Well, she did not crash and burn as many had expected. In a debate built up as a test of her qualifications and her capacity to serve as president should tragedy strike, Sarah Palin had to show she has a grasp of the issues and the ability to serve in the highest office in the land at a moment’s notice. It is obvious from listening to her answers and her exchanges that Governor Palin still has a long way to go. However, compared with the appalling interviews she did with Katie Couric last week, Palin did show the charm and likeability that got her supporters enthused about her candidacy in the first place.

Give John McCain credit: He is not afraid of taking risks. We all know about his war record and the risks he took when in combat. In politics, we have seen a similar spirit, willing to go against the grain and often not always calculating the potential impact. He ran against the Republican establishment in 2000, only to suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of George W. Bush. At 72, and after having survived four battles against cancer, he throws his hat in the ring against all odds. At this time last year, we were writing McCain’s political obituary. Here again, the gamble paid off.

Back in 2000, John McCain described the two major tasks of a vice-president: Every day, he has to check on the president’s health, and he must make himself available to preside over ceremonies. Not too appealing. A former vice-president who served with FDR, John Nance Garner, said the job of vice-president is not worth more “than a bucket of spit.” Not too important, we can assume. Clearly, very few people yearn for the office of the vice-president. However, being vice-president in this day and age is much different than what McCain and Garner described. From Walter Mondale (1977 – 1980) to Dick Cheney (2001 – 2009) the power of the vice-presidency has increased significantly. One third of vice-presidents have gone on to become president. This is not an insignificant statistic. So the choices of Joe Biden and Sarah Palin clearly merits all the attention it has gotten.

Must-reads: Dan Gardner and John Ibbitson on Sarah Palin; Don Martin on the election trail.

Yesterday it was Barack Obama making history. Today it is Alaska Governor Sara Palin’s turn to make history. She is the first female candidate to be on the Republican ticket and should the McCain – Palin ticket win, she will become the first female Vice-President in U.S. history. So, whoever wins in November, the face of the American government will have changed. Eighty eight years ago women in America got the right to vote, and forty five years ago Martin Luther King delivered his landmark speech that resulted in Civil Rights legislation. And now in 2008, we will finally break barriers.

In the next few days, both presidential campaigns will announce their picks for the vice presidential nomination. In the case of the Democrats, rumour has it that it could be as early as tomorrow, when the Obama campaign will send an e-mail to its numerous supporters announcing the nominee. The Republicans will in all likelihood wait until after the Democratic convention to indicate their choice. While the veep choice has rarely tipped the scales in a presidential contest, it is highly likely that, this year, much will be said about the respective choices and they will have a greater role in the campaign. This is the first election since 1952 that there are no incumbents on either ticket. Moreover, the selection itself will say much about the presidential candidates.

Barack Obama is on tour in the Middle East and in Europe with a horde of journalists following his every move.  This explains why he is currently dominating the news back home and inviting charges of media bias from the McCain camp.  Meanwhile, Senator McCain is embroiled in a controversy with the New York Times regarding an op-ed piece.  The emphasis has been on national security issues and economy in recent weeks and candidates have carefully laid out their different positions.   Through it all, the choice for vice president in both campaigns has been relegated to the back burner.  Until now.

With the two major parties having chosen their presumptive nominees, the attention is now shifting to the choice of their vice-presidential candidates. Both Barack Obama and John McCain were considered at best long shots for winning the nominations of their respective parties a year ago. Consequently, much of the attention was centered on their capacity to win the nomination. In the case of the Democrats, the closeness of the race between Clinton and Obama preempted any talk of a potential running mate. Occasionally, and with greater frequency in recent weeks the possibility of an Obama-Clinton ticket surfaced, but until the final outcome was determined, no one knew for sure who the nominee would be.

Must reads: Dan Gardner on Mark Steyn vs. the sock-puppets; Christie Blatchford and Thomas Walkom on the Toronto 18 trial; Richard Gwyn on Obama.