THEIR FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DECISION

By Edwin Cooney

They’re coming soon. I mean, of course, the first real presidential decisions by candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Each man’s vice presidential running mate selection will tell us not only what his assessment of the current political situation is, but perhaps even something of what each candidate’s assets and liabilities as president may be.

Eight years ago when Governor George W. Bush was the GOP candidate, many expected that he would choose his most popular opponent Arizona Senator John McCain as his running mate. After all, Senator McCain was a Vietnam War hero, basically conservative, and he could bring to the ticket a large portion of independent voters. The problem was that Senator McCain was himself ambitious and somewhat unpredictable. Like his father before him, young Bush appears to have decided he needed a vice president who would never be a political threat. Papa Bush had solved that political dilemma by selecting James Danforth (Dan) Quayle of Indiana for his running mate back in 1988. He could have chosen either Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole or Dole’s wife Mary Elizabeth (Liddy) Dole (then Transportation Secretary in the Reagan administration). However, if George Herbert Walker Bush had selected either Dole, there likely would have been constant speculation as to who “the real force” was behind the proverbial throne. Hence he chose the handsome but political lightweight Dan Quayle of Indiana.

Richard Bruce Cheney was no political lightweight back in 2000—indeed, quite the opposite. However, his heart condition and lack of personal campaign stump magnetism had for some time limited any presidential ambitions he might have once possessed. What Dick Cheney did possess was both administrative and legislative experience which would lend political gravitas and stability to young Bush’s candidacy and presidency. This conclusion is most dramatically enhanced by the fact that, at the time of his selection, Dick Cheney was serving as one of Bush’s presidential campaign consultants. Even more, Cheney was at that time a resident of Texas and had to move back to Wyoming -- where he’d served as that state’s only congressman -- in order to be constitutionally eligible for election as Vice President. (The Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution forbids the President and Vice President from being from the same state.)

Lacking any experience with either national or international issues, young Bush needed the magic stamp of presidential legitimacy to enhance his national appeal. Former Presidential Chief of Staff, Congressman, and Secretary of Defense Cheney filled the bill nicely.

No presidential candidate is likely to possess as comprehensive a package of knowledge, experience, ability and foresight as we would ideally wish. Thus, the selection of a vice presidential running mate is critical. It is the presidential candidate’s opportunity to expand every aspect of his appeal. It may also enhance his capacity to govern, once he is elected.

Historically, candidates have been selected for the vice presidential spot for a number of interesting reasons.

In 1904, for example, most Democrats were realistic enough to realize that Teddy Roosevelt was likely to run over them like the “bull moose” he would become in 1912. Their presidential candidate was the very respectable Chief Justice of the New York State Court of Appeals Judge Alton Brooks Parker. For his running mate, they selected eighty-year-old Henry Gassaway Davis of West Virginia. Some say Davis was nominated primarily because he could afford to bankroll the campaign. Some sources say he kept his word and contributed about $120,000 (about $3,000,000 in today’s money). Others insist that Davis added nothing, not even money, to the 1904 campaign. Which assessment is correct, you ask? Take your pick.

In 1924, after an exhausting ten-day 104-ballot convention, the Democrats nominated John W. Davis of West Virginia as its compromise presidential candidate. As Davis’s running mate, the Democrats chose Governor Charles W. Bryan of Nebraska. Bryan was the brother of the party’s popular but three times losing presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.

So, it’ll soon be Barack Obama and John McCain’s turn. Senator Obama needs a Vice President who will give him greater political credibility in the area of foreign affairs. Some say that if the polls show a close race between Obama and McCain going into the convention, Senator Obama will choose Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential candidate. If he’s substantially ahead, then either former Hillary Clinton supporter Indiana Senator Evan Bayh or former NATO Commander General Wesley Clark could get the nod. My guess is that he’ll pick General Clark.

Senator McCain needs a young running mate with credibility on domestic issues. Many believe he should pick former presidential candidate Mitt Romney for Vice President. However, rumor has it that they don’t much like one another. My guess is that Senator McCain will pick his friend Florida Governor Charles Crist to strengthen his appeal on domestic issues.

It would be nice if presidential candidates chose vice presidents strictly on their qualifications rather than on their possible political appeal, but both presidential and vice presidential candidates have one thing in common in this great nation of ours: they have to be electable before they have to be qualified.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY