Posted by
Hibanator on Thursday, September 11, 2008 9:53:11 PM
For years I've heard comments like, "Clinton will not nominate ______ because he doesn't want to be overshadowed by his V.P. " Or "Bush will never nominate ______ because his ego is too big and he doesn't want to be outshined by the #2 guy." Maybe these statements were true at the time, but never again.
Nobody thought that Palin would overshadow McCain, but it has happened. Who knew that she'd be a game changer to the extent of producing a 10-15 point swing in the polls? I was at the rally in Fairfax yesterday and 90% of the people were there to see and hear Palin. The cheers of "Sarah, Sarah" were twice as long and three times as loud as "John McCain, John McCain." McCain knows it. Everybody knows it. Do you think McCain cares that his running mate gets all the love from the fans? The 72 year old McCain doesn't care how he gets to the White House. The small bruise to his ego is a tiny price to pay. He wants to win and personal glory is secondary. He's had plenty of that in his life.
Barack Obama on the other hand will lose because he had another agenda when picking his running mate: keeping his wife happy. Robert Novak reported that he didn't consider Hillary because Michelle vetoed her. And it had nothing to do with policy or values. It was just a matter of the ticket not being big enough for the both of these two strong women. How history can be shaped by such things is fascinating.
When picking a VP use the Al Davis rule: Just win baby!!