Stepping Up on the Political Soapbox for a Minute

Barack Obama picks Joe Biden. John McCain picks Sarah Palin.

Interesting choices, particularly given the messages that each of the presidential candidates have tried to put forth lately.

Let’s see. Obama is all about change. The country needs change. He picks a VP candidate who is a longtime politician on the national level with little record to indicate that he will fight the status quo. Hmm. . .

Well then, let’s look at McCain. McCain is all about experienced leadership. The country needs experienced leadership in the White House. He picks a VP candidate who is younger than Obama and with less national political experience than Obama. Hmm. . .

WTF were these men thinking?!? May I suggest that perhaps both of these presidential candidates could have looked to VP picks that would have helped them stay more on message rather than pandering to the “be everything to everyone” mentality and trying to counteract the criticisms from the other side?

Oh, I know, I’m just a simpleton when it comes to these things. What do I know? It’s silly really for me to think that I could select better running mates than these two have. However, for good or bad, here’s my take on it. If Obama wanted someone with experience without the “insider” feel of Biden perhaps he should have chosen Hillary Clinton. She’s been in the political arena a long time without being a long time politician and has an inside track on what it’s like in the White House. With Clinton as VP, the change message would ring truer than with Biden. For McCain, if he’s looking for someone younger than himself (a large percent of the population) and female, then why not look to Condaleeza Rice? She’s young and female, but unlike Palin, she has national political experience. If McCain’s message is “Let’s have experienced leadership” then Rice is a much better choice than Palin.

So what are these people thinking? Who are their advisors who are leading them down these paths? I’m sorry America, but once again we’re left with the choice of which one is the less bad set of candidates rather than which one is the best set of candidates.

To be sure, I’ll vote in November. Yes I will, and I will vote for the less objectionable set of candidates on the ballot from the two major parties. I won’t be throwing my wholehearted support behind either set though. One of these days, I’m going to run for president myself. I’d do a darned sight better job than most of the doofuses (doofi?) we elect now, and I'll make sure to pick a running mate that isn't the antithesis of the message I've been conveying up to that point.