report on the vice presidency

[calimac]

Fascinating article (and a fairly long one) on how Obama chose Biden to be his running mate, and on what they expect Biden would do in that office. This ties in with my post on the role of Vice President.

Be sure also to click through to the Mondale memo, in which the VP who re-invented the office and made it respectable outlines to his President exactly what he thinks he should be doing. This is to serve as a free-floating adviser and representative. He goes into considerable detail on this (and, notably, assumes that Carter will read it).

By contrast, here is the sum total of what Mondale has to say about the Constitutional duty which, some claim, puts the VP in the Legislative branch:

The Constitution mandates that I serve as President of the Senate. The duties are ceremonial with the exception of casting tie-breaking votes. I assume this responsibility will take a minimum amount of time.

Comments

[scribblerworks.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't it be interesting (and telling) to read an honest article on how McCain came to choose Palin as his running mate? I mean, really honest, not the gloss those enamored of Palin want to believe.

Ah well. "Silly walks" indeed, says I, the unrepentant flippant viewer of most things political.

:D