Now for the vice president

Denise Oppenhagen
Published: June 8, 2008

All right. We’re now set on our presidential candidates for November — John McCain and Barack Obama. With a couple of months left until the conventions, all speculation will be turning to the vice presidential candidates. 

John McCain has started interviewing potential candidates, one of whom is his former rival, Mitt Romney.  I can see the attraction with Romney -— he is younger, richer, and more photogenic. He would be a good complement to McCain — physically, geographically and politically. The political contrast between McCain and Romney, however, brings to mind the comments (okay, bashing) made during the primary campaigns.  Romney focused on criticizing McCain’s conservative credentials.  Now, maybe Romney’s strategy will pay its rewards by proving to be the impetus for choosing him to be on the ticket. After all, if he is more conservative than McCain, Romney should appeal to that part of the Republican constituency. 

The bashing that Romney gave to McCain is nothing compared to what Hillary Clinton dished out to Barack Obama. She totally trashed Obama — his experience, his judgement, his ability to win.  It seemed at times during the campaign that she was a proxy for the Republicans rather than a contender for the Democratic nomination. To say that she handed a lot of ammunition to the Republican
Party through her negative campaigning would be an understatement. 

And yet, there is pressure from some Democrats to put Hillary on the Democratic ticket as the vice presidential candidate. While a Obama-Clinton or a Clinton-Obama ticket would have seemed like a
dream ticket earlier in the year, an Obama-Clinton ticket now would be hypocritical and without any credibility at all. How could Clinton accept a position that puts her in a supporting role to a person she has consistently claimed to have less experience than her?  If Obama did put her on the ticket, she certainly wouldn’t be invisible like the guy that’s in there now (what’s his name?  You know, the guy who mistook a lawyer for a quail? I think his name sounds like the weather we’ve been having lately.) And what about the person in the second supporting position, Second Lady (or man in this case?) Is
Bill Clinton going to be satisfied with being the spouse of the vice president? I don’t think so. I think putting either Clinton on the ticket would be a huge mistake — and a huge headache for Obama.

And what about credibility? If Obama were to put Clinton on the ticket, he would be negating all his campaign is about. He wouldn’t be changing the way Washington works — he would be reinforcing it. If he wants to change the way Washington works, he needs to steer clear of Clintons and Bushes.  He should choose someone who has not been in Washington too long, someone who still has ties to their community, someone in Congress who knows not only how to get things done but how to work with both sides of the political aisle. This would not be a description of Hillary. Who would it describe?
Off-hand, I don’t know. But I am quite hopeful that Obama will find someone who fits that description. In order for Obama’s campaign to remain credible and inspirational, he must stay true to his platform — change. The call for change is what made him a frontrunner. Our desire for change in the way Washington works provided Obama with the who, what, when, where, why and how of his national success. He owes us. He has, in effect, made it through the first round of interviews for his job. If he wants to get the job, he needs to close the deal and his vice presidential choice will be a key to being successful. 

I’m holding my breath and crossing my fingers. I haven’t been this interested in a presidential campaign for a long time.

Denise Oppenhagen is a longtime resident of Prince William County and can be reached at .