A Novel VP thought, Pick the Best Person for the Job

With John McCain firmly in control of the GOP presidential nomination, speculation is growing over his running mate.  Advice is plentiful.  Reuters ran a typical article this evening, quoting "experts" suggesting that McCain pick a candidate who would help McCain win a particular state, like Florida governor Charlie Crist or Minnesota governor Tom Pewlenty.  Or a woman or an African-American to run against Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama, depending on which of those candidates wins the Democratic race.

Here's my advice to McCain  . . . select as your running mate the person who would make the best president if you could not finish your term.

Wouldn't (or at least shouldn't) folks in Florida or Minnesota respect McCain more if he selected the right man (or woman) for the job than if he merely kissed up to them by choosing a native son.  Wouldn't women or minorities prefer to vote for the best possible ticket and not one with a token VP candidate?

Don't take this the wrong way.  Crist, Pewlenty, Kay Bailey Hutchison, or Colin Powell might in fact be the best possible candidate for vice president.  Each of them have attributes and detriments that can be weighed at another time.  But choosing Crist because he's from Florida, Pewlenty because he's from Minnesota, Hutchison because she's a woman, or Powell because he's black would do a disservice to that person and to the county.

I realize that my advice to Senator McCain might be looked on as naive.  But I think that the country would rally around a candidate who would consistently do what was right because it was the right thing to do.

Here's hoping that John McCain decides to nominate a running mate who is the best person he can find rather than the most strategic vote-getter.