Silver Lining
I have always hated the inevitable posturing during the party presidential conventions that the newly selected vice-presidential candidate would have unprecedented access to the president and that the presidential candidate would reinvent the office of the vice-presidency to take advantage of his running mate's unique skills, blah blah. Kennedy giving NASA to Johnson not-withstanding, this is mostly face-saving for the vice-presidential candidate, since he or she has typically just been relegated to an appendage of the person they were very recently running against. Also, there just isn't any Constitutional role for the vice-president short of breaking ties in the Senate and fogging a mirror in case the President dies.
Say what you will about the Bush White House, but I can pretty much gaurantee we are not going to hear much this election cycle about powerful and active future vice-presidents.
M. Hodak:
Best line from the last election was in the Cheney-Edwards debate, a throw-away line, actually, where Cheney mentions "I'm not after my boss's job."
July 18, 2007, 8:53 pmRoy Lofquist:
Actually, Bush has made the best case yet for an assistant president. An apparently rational selection as opposed to a hormonal decision made thirty years ago.
July 19, 2007, 10:08 pm