February 29, 2008Almost a year ago, the Crystal Ball took a first crack at listing the vice presidential possibilities in both parties. The list has held up surprisingly well. But the justifications for various candidacies have changed, and now that we know John McCain will make the choice, it's time for reconsideration.
(We'll await the unofficial crowning of the Democratic nominee to play this game on the Democratic side, unless Democrats keep the game tied through the spring. Our discipline can only last so long.)
Let's start by revising and extending our earlier remarks, and asking the most important question. Ideally, what does a presidential candidate need in a VP ticket-mate? Here are the most important elements, and a second-banana nominee ought to meet most of these criteria:
* The Veep should be relatively scandal-free, and cause no major problems at selection time and throughout the campaign. It's the Hippocratic Oath for VP candidates: First, do no harm.
* The Veep ought to be able to carry his or her home state, or at least carry another sizeable state if he or she cannot win home state backing. If the person can't even do that, why in the world would you want that man or woman on the ticket? It would be nice if his/her state were competitive, or even unlikely to be won without the Veep nominee. Those are double electoral votes--votes put in your party's column which are taken directly from the other party's column.
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