Publication:The Oklahoman; Date:Aug 20, 2008;

Veepstakes

Lots of buzz, limited impact

PERHAPS as early as today, Barack Obama’s biggest fans will get a text message or an e-mail telling them who the Democratic presidential nominee has selected as his running mate. The nation is electric with expectation.

OK, maybe electric isn’t the right word. While the crowd inside Washington’s Beltway is pretty charged up, the most that probably can be said about the rest of us is we’re mildly curious.

Every presidential year, political scientists and media pundits stress that the No. 2 person on the ticket has little impact on Americans’ choice for president. People vote the top of the ballot.

Historical evidence abounds. Attempts to win key states by tabbing a favorite son for vice president frequently fall flat. In 2004, John Edwards failed to deliver his state, North Carolina, for Democrat John Kerry. In 1988, Lloyd Bentsen couldn’t win Texas for Democrat Michael Dukakis.

Even a poor selection usually doesn’t matter. George H.W. Bush’s choice of Dan Quayle didn’t lose the ’88 election. Others were instantly forgettable.

Even so, a lot of oxygen is being consumed by people talking about who Obama will pick, as well as John McCain later this month.

Many think Obama will choose someone older with foreign policy expertise to balance his relative youth and thin international resume. If that’s Obama’s thinking, then Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware could get the call.

Yet such a move could backfire if voters see it as indicating Obama thinks he’s too young and lacks worldly knowledge. Same for McCain; choosing someone years his junior could tell voters the nominee thinks he has an age problem.

Soon we’ll be able to exhale, and after a blip of attention over the Veepstakes, voters will do as they usually do — return their focus to the men who would be president.