Who are more ‘powerful’ — candidates’ spouses or candidates’ VP picks?

It's fascinating to watch presidential candidates express their unique "style" of campaigning and to think about what might truly influence voters -- which leads me to the question in today's post title: Which do you think is more important for a presidential candidate and his/her ability to get elected, the candidate's spouse or the candidate's choice for a vice presidential running mate?

Think about that a bit before you answer.

Spouses may win or lose presidential races, I suspect, far more often than VP candidates. The conventional political blather always speculates that a VP candidate can help a candidate capture votes from a big interest group or a significant state or region of the country. For that reason, McCain, as an example, might want to nominate a southerner with evangelical religious convictions to capture Southern conservative voters. (Does the name Huckabee ring a bell here?)

Truth of the matter is this: No one goes to the polls to vote for a vice president. If you don't believe me, here's a test: In 10 seconds or less, tell me the name of the Democratic Party vice presidential candidate in 1988. Heck, I'll bet you need to think about it to recall who George Bush I's VP was, wouldn't you? Be honest.

At the same time, I'm willing to bet you have at least some opinion about or reaction to the wives of Barack Obama and John McCain, and about Hillary Clinton's husband (especially). And I'm further willing to bet that you'll ultimately be influenced when you get ready to flip that voting machine lever (or mark the ballot or scan the ballot, etc.) far more by your opinion of the candidates' spouses than you will about who they pick for VP.

Perhaps that's only human. Perhaps there's really nothing wrong with that. Vice presidents rarely need to do anything a fairly competent politician with any experience can't do with just a little prompting. And should anything happen to suddenly thrust a VP into the top spot while he/she's in office -- well, maybe a good spouse will come to the rescue and carry the VP and the country through it.
[tags]presidential race, vice presidents, candidates' spouses, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]

May 1, 2008 | Filed Under Political News