Obama's VP search sounds strangely like George Bush's in 2000
On many levels the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama and President George W. Bush have nothing in common.
But on a couple they do. Eight years ago, then-Texas Gov. Bush had locked up the Republican presidential nomination, vowing to "change the tone in Washington" with a new brand of bipartisan politics.
Americans have a perennial dissatisfaction with the particularly partisan practice of politics in that city appropriately built on a former swamp.
Which is a major reason that Maryland was originally so willing to donate the worthless morass to the new nation as the federal District of Columbia.
Bush, who would arrive at the White House as an outsider despite his father's long service in that city and for that government, was looking for a vice presidential running mate who would help erase or ease concerns about his foreign affairs and national security inexperience. And this was even before 9/11.
He enlisted Dick Cheney, a former representative, a former White House chief of staff and a former Defense secretary to conduct the search and ended up picking the extremely experienced searcher instead of any of the searchees. It lent the 2000 GOP ticket what was then called "gravitas."
Obama's been in Washington three years now as a legislator, not an executive, although about half that time he's been out of town running for president. But he's still trying to portray himself as an outsider, an agent of change and bipartisanship in a place that's proved resistant to both.
Obama needs to find a running mate who won't hurt him with any unexpected disclosures, won't overshadow his fresh glow but will enhance his credentials as an executive and bring some foreign and national security experience.
But those with that kind of experience, say, Sen. Joe Biden, could be seen as part of the problem; Biden's been a senator in that swamp since Obama was 11 years old. And those from outside Washington have the same lack of experience except, say, former Sen. Sam Nunn, who like Cheney has been out of town some years.
Our blogging colleague Johanna Neuman over at Countdown to Crawford has an interesting examination of some recent Obama remarks on what he is -- and is not -- looking for in a ticket partner. Hint: He's not looking for a cousin Cheney, he says.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Photo: Eric Draper / The White House
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Hey another think Obama has in Common with Bush...
He misspeaks as often or more....
His gaffs are unbelievable but generally buried by media.
think about it... Obama believes putting air in our car tires is as good as drilling for more oil...
His IQ is probably lower... but he has a marketing image.
My best guess is that moveon.org which is funded by Gerorge Soros is the reason he has a no drilling plan. See Soros probably has investments in Oil. So he probably must make sure that Nancy, Barack, Reid, etc are all anti drilling... he makes more money that way.
Posted by: dean | August 21, 2008 at 03:53 AM
Iraq demonstrates 8 years of the poorest judgment
by any president or administration in American history.
McCain wants to continue those same policies and
he calls Obama's judgment into question?
Obama's judgment was the only right one from the
beginning, remember? He was against invading.
We wouldn't be having this discussion today if Obama
had been our president the last 8 years. We wouldn't be
at war -- at least, not in the wrong country -- our economy
wouldn't be in recession and we'd still have 4,000 American
children alive today who have been lied to and tricked
into dying over an oil grab.
Judge that, all you McSames.
Posted by: Jim Lacey | August 21, 2008 at 05:57 AM
It doesn´t really matter which party wins its all a show, all controlled by the CFR and Bilderberg until everyone realizes that these elections are all a show then we´re in the same position that we are with Bush. Learn more people open your eyes.
www.prisonplanet.com
www.infowars.com
www.jonesreport.com
www.truthnews.us
Posted by: John Lewis | August 21, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Dean,
Putting air in your tyres IS as good as drilling for more oil, in fact it's probably better!
Its the same as taking the junk out of your car.
Or buying a smaller car
Or walking.
Or using public transport.
Or do you not think that using less fuel is as good or better than having more of it.
If that is the case (and everyone else in the US shares your tunnel vision) then we are seriously in trouble.
Posted by: matt | August 25, 2008 at 07:01 PM