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Let’s see…..Last week I promised to go into more depth on why our boy Bayh got the bye-bye from Obama, but the world has changed since then, and Evan has gone off with a stiff lip and a smile pursing a new career that includes, but is not limited to, appearing on TV humor shows. He’ll be back later to work on his gravitas.

Anyway, his demise as a Veep candidate can be summarized pretty quickly. He had what Obama needed, like expertise in foreign affairs, but not as much as Joe Biden, who is also considered as more of an “Attack Dog,” a characteristic thought valuable as a running mate. Throw in the fact that Bayh is from an adjoining state with Obama, whereas Joe represents a different part of the country. I’d say the really big advantage Joe had was that he is more experienced and is perceived as a “Man Who Can Take Over The Presidency” if the top guy comes up missing, which has been McCain’s most potent charge against Obama (but is no more, as of last Friday).

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Yes, in a few days, the World Has Changed, thanks to John McCain’s independent turn of mind. With a leap and a bang we have entered a New Era of Diversity. When somebody told me Friday that McCain had chosen the female governor of Alaska as his running mate, I said, “You’ve got to be kidding.” Then I had a subversive thought: “John McCain’s become a women’s libber?” I doubt if I was the only one who was surprised, although others may have expressed it more politely. Of course, in the matter of party politics, even if surprised (or shocked), the true-blue party faithful closed ranks and staunchly defended his choice.

Matthew Tully, the Indianapolis Star’s perceptive columnist, said the choice will diminish McCain’s chances. I don’t think so. He won’t switch a lot of Hillary votes his way, but Sarah Who? (Oh yes, Palin) represents all the non-Hillary lovers, the motherly, non-political types, which represent the core of McCain’s constituency.

One seismic change in the political rhetoric will be McCain’s abandonment of his charge against Obama as not being experienced enough to be President. That won’t sell anymore with the Veep he would have, “one heartbeat away” from that office. Actually, after she’s in office a year or two, she would be as well qualified as many of our Veeps who have suddenly been elevated to the Presidency. Just for fun, let’s look at a few. Some of this lore comes from a book by a Richmond author, Jan Passmore, “A Heartbeat Away,” available at the local library and bookstores.

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Anybody ever heard of Chester Arthur? He was never elected to anything until he became vice-president under James Garfield. He was the creation of the corrupt New York boss, Roscoe Conkling, didn’t seek the office and certainly didn’t expect to be President, until Garfield was assassinated. Surprisingly, he turned out to be a pretty good President.

Teddy Roosevelt was nominated and elected as President only because the New York bosses wanted to get him out of their state where he was causing too much trouble, so they elevated him to the nothing job as William McKinley’s Veep, and after McKinley’s assassination, he became what most people would consider one of our best Presidents. You know, one of our Hoosier Veeps, the ultra conservative Charles Fairbanks, filled that office with Teddy, and later, as candidate in 19l6 with Charles Evans Hughes, but unfortunately (for him), Teddy wasn’t assassinated and Hughes didn’t get elected.

In that same period, our boy Thomas Marshall, ex-governor of Indiana, was Woodrow Wilson’s v-p for two terms, and later said he wouldn’t mind being v-p again because he didn’t like to work.

Calvin Coolidge was v-p for Warren Harding and took over when Harding died in office. Unquestionably, he was an improvement over Harding. But anyone would have been.

What do you suppose would have happened if some tragedy had done-in President Eisenhower, whose v-p was Richard Nixon? We’d had Early Nixon instead of Late Nixon. Better or worse?

Now we come to 1988 and Ronald Reagan endorsed his v-p, George H.W. Bush, who chose a young, attractive, conservative Senator named Dan Quayle. Why? I don’t attempt to explain it, and anyway, I’ve just named all his qualifications.

Quayle was the last of our Hoosier Veeps. Evan Bayh almost made it; too bad; maybe next time. Vice-Presidential candidates are not chosen for what they know but what they represent. The candidates for that office this time around are probably about as good as any we’ve had. And anyway, just remember Harry Truman, another creation of a big city boss, a small time haberdasher who failed in business. Almost everybody says – after he left office, that is – that he was one of our best Presidents.

Ain’t this a great country? In spite of our vice-presidents, America lives on!

Vic Jose :: Aug.30.2008 :: Uncategorized ::

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