I now pronounce you Running Mates… by Rena silverman

Choosing a Vice President

it’s no cooincidence that a vice presidentialial candidate is often called a running “mate,” because as a presidential candidate, choosing your running mate shares traits with matrimonial practices from a number of different cultures.

As with Hindus or the Hapsburg Dynasty, a presidential-vice presidential match-up is much like an arranged marriage, a convenient couplin brought together by outside forces such as party power brokers, the media, and pressure frompublic opinion.

As in the Catholic tradition, the Presidential Candidate and his/her running mate are bonded together for life; two fates, inextricably and permanently intertwined.

And, just like marriage, the two candidates will likely enjoy an initial honeymoon period of approximately 3 to 4 days, followed by inevitable ups and downs, after which will come an ensemble settlement into a long period  of static coexistence.

There are, of course, obvious differences between finding a mate and finding a running mate. For one,you have to date within your league. Also, as a Presidential Candidate shopping for a Veep, it is important to distinguish between regular, harmless, irritating flaws and”the fatal flaw, a concept that has littered history with failed campaigns that were dragged into the electoral abyss by a vice-presidential candidates.

Consider George McGovern, who chose Terry Eagleton to be partner on the Democratic ticket only to find out that Eagleton had undergone electroshock treatments in order to lose. Once the public found out that Eagleton was a closet nut, he was forced to withdraw, forcing the McGovern to send Richard Nixon a return ticket to the White House.

Or consider Democratic nominee Al Gore, who chose Sen. Joe Lieberman as his running mate, not realizing that lieberman was actually a Republican.

Choose the right running mate, and trust me, you’ll earn yourself twenty-five whole electoral votes.

In the meantime, I suggest Mr. Obama play this game from CQ Politics to determine his Vice Presidential Candidate.

posted by Rena Silverman