The political system of every country differs in some aspects from those of other countries. Some states are monarchies, some are parliamentary republics, other present the presidential republics or mixed, parliamentary-presidential or vice versa presidential-parliamentary republics. All these kinds of the political systems have their distinctive features. For example, monarchy is characterized with the king or queen being the head of the country and having the supreme or constitutionally limited power. Parliamentary republics give the whole amount of the power to the parliament, while presidential ones are those where the president is the highest level of the executive power. In the countries of the mixed type of the republic the powers are divided equally between the branches in order not to let any of them become dominant.
Speaking about the political system of the United States of America we can distinguish one more type of the country’s organization – the federal republic. This means that the powers in the country are divided between the three branches – executive, legislative and judicial, and the President of the United States is considered to be the head of the country. At the same time he/she is the Commander-in-chief of the US armed forces. The second position after the President in the hierarchy is taken by the Vice President of the United States. This person is appointed by the Presidential candidate who got the majority of the votes and took the Presidential office according to certain interests that he or she pursuits.
There is a joke that the position of the Vice President is the best one for a public person to take if he or she wants to go into obscurity and to be forgotten. These words characterize the significance of the position for the US citizens. Formally, the Vice-President is appointed as a person who will take the presidential office in case of the Presidents death, removal or resignation. But in fact Presidents never pay much attention to this function of their Vice Presidents. The main point that motivates this or that appointment of a Vice President is keeping of the balance between the political powers in the country. This means that the force that won the election needs to make some concessions to the party which failed in order to keep that balance.
The examples of the appointments of such kind can be found throughout the US history. President Roosvellt, known as a liberal politician from New York, selected John Nance Garner, a Texan politician keeping to the conservative ideas. This helped to keep the balance geographical balance, as well as the balance between the liberals and conservatives in the same party. Another example is up-to-date, as George Bush appointed Dick Cheney to compensate his own lack of knowledge in the foreign affairs in which Mr. Cheney was a specialist (O’Connor, 298 – 299). According to other duties of the Vice President, he is the one who fulfills the functions of the President of the US Senate and the head of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). So, as we can see, the position of The Vice President is more important than it is thought about. That is why we have to consider what possible candidates are the best for the assumed presidential candidates at the US Presidential Elections of 2008. We will take Hillary Clinton as an assumed Democrats Party candidate and John McCain as an assumed candidate from the Republican side.
Considering the possible candidates from the Democrats Party I came to the conclusion that Antonio Villaraigosa is the best choice for Hillary Clinton as an assumed President candidate at the elections of 2008. There is one more good option, her husband Bill Clinton, who has already been President and who will be the ideal counterpart to his wife that will let the Americans hope for fruitful work of the White House. But Bill Clinton yields to Villaraigosa in concern of interracial relations and the problem of woman rights which are familiar to Villaraigosa. He deals with them in Los-Angeles and has the support of the Latinos and women. Antonio Villaraigosa, the Mayor of Los-Angeles, is supported by the Latin Americans living in Los-Angeles and is known for his understanding of the problems of national minorities. Recently the importance of the Latino voting has been greatly increasing, so due to his good position among this part of the electorate Villaraigosa reached prominence in the Democratic Party and is considered to be the leading candidate for the position of the Vice President.
The approach to the woman rights question that is displayed by Villaraigosa is also attractive to the electorate and the choice of this Latino politician will increase the chances of Hillary Clinton to win the Presidential election. This candidate went the road from a spokesman in the Los-Angeles City Council to the Mayor of this city is a perfect example of how to be a leader and how to be successful. This makes him a good candidate for the position, besides, there is numerous evidence that namely Villaraigosa is considered to be the most appropriate Vice President by Mrs. Clinton herself. Some specialists claim that the major aim of Villaraigosa is to become the California Governor in 2010 elections and give evidence of this, but I stick to the point of view that Antonio Villaraigosa is the best candidate for this position and I think that Hillary Clinton will make the right choice of the Vice President candidate if she becomes the official Presidential candidate from the Democratic Party.
First of all, Hillary Clinton was seen to meet with Mr. Villaraigosa before her Presidential Campaign started and they had a talk after which Villaraigosa agreed to become one of the leaders of Clinton’s campaign. This can mean that the Presidential Candidate promised him the Vice Presidential office in case of her victory. The successful campaign carried out by Clinton’s supporters also adds to Villaraigosa’s chances for the assumed Vice Presidency. Secondly, Antonio Villaraigosa had a worldwide tour during which he met with the leaders of many countries. This can be also considered as evidence of the coming appointment. The Vice President Antonio Villaraigosa will allow Clinton reach several aims that will make her possible presidency much easier. He is able to compromise the sides of the US society that are in a kind of a conflict – the Government and the constantly growing Latino population of the USA which has more and more influence on the state policies. The international ties of Mr. Villaraigosa also play a very important role in the choice of Hilary Clinton as the Vice President who is already known abroad is an advantage to the positions of the Democratic Party in the coming elections (Bruck, 2008).
Considering the possible best candidate for the Vice Presidency from the Republican Party is more difficult than Democratic Party because among Republicans there is no unity as for who is the best choice for Vice President office if John McCain becomes President. There are several criteria according to which the candidate from the Republicans will be chosen, and I offer to examine these criteria and make our choice. The problem of the Republican Party is the age of their Presidential candidate. John McCain is already 72 years old, so, in case of his victory in the elections, he will need a younger Vice President who will be able to moderate the conservative policies of the Republicans and win the votes of the younger part of the US population. The candidate should also be a popular person, and have influence in the Republican Party and on the electorate. The most appropriate candidates that will conform to all the above mentioned requirements can be found among the Governors.
Considering all the possible candidates I came to the conclusion that Tim Pawlenty, the Governor of the state of Minnesota fits most of all others to be the Vice President from the Republican Party. There are several factors that prove my point of view and I will speculate upon them below. The first point is that the Governor Tim Pawlenty isn much younger than John McCain is – Mr. Pawlenty is only 48 compared to 72 years of McCain, and this means that he can bring new trends to the conservative Republican policies and by this win the votes of a certain part of the population. Besides, Republicans are concerned with the age of their nominee because in case of emergency he will be able to take the Presidential office if the President will not be able to fulfill his duties (Dahle, 2008). Another point that serves to the advantage of Tim Pawlenty is his moderate conservativeness.
It will let the Republicans, firstly, not to lose the voters who were a bit disappointed with not conservative enough policy of John McCain, and, secondly, gain new voters who demand the less conservative policy. For example, in the question of the immigration, Tim Pawlenty keeps to a rather conservative position, in contrast to John McCain. Pawlenty promises to solve the problem of immigration as he is absolutely against this process. Although this point can cause certain conflicts with the national minorities, Republicans believe that in general such approach will improve the balance between their conservative and liberal voters. Also, the figure of Tim Pawlenty as an assumed Vice President will assure people that he can influence John McCain in some questions, for example in the issues like the above mentioned immigration.
The fact that usually Minnesota is a Democrat state also becomes important in the case with Pawlenty, because his being a Vice President nominee can make the state he governs swing, i. e. change their preferences and this time vote for the Republican Party. Thus much more votes will be won by the Republicans and it will make the task of the Democratic Party to return to the White House more difficult. Certainly, there are some other factors that make Tim Pawlenty the best candidate for this position. The today’s situation in the USA is such that all possible nominees for the President’s office are senators and this mean that they do not have executive experience. Mr. Pawlenty has rich experience of the executive work as he worked long as the state Governor of Minnesota. He is closely acquainted with the political and judicial system of the United States of America and this is one more advantage of his figure. Finally, Tim Pawlenty started supporting the candidature of John McCain from the very beginning of the election campaign and always displayed his support in public. John McCain is glad to have such a supporter: “This is the kind of leadership that I’d like to pass the torch to.” (Dahle, 1) Tim Pawlenty does not hide his position and calls McCain “a great leader” when asked about the reasons of this support (Dahle, 1).
So, all the above analyzed information draws this essay to the following conclusion. The position of the Vice President is rather important one in the political system of the United States of America. Although this importance is not evident in the field of law-making or executive branch of the power, the significance of choosing the right Vice President nominee for any of the candidates for Presidency can not be underestimated. This can be explained by the fact that the figure of this or that Vice President candidate can change sufficiently the election results because voters who do not support the candidate can support his Vice President. So, in this essay I have tried to choose the most suitable persons for the office of Vice President from both Democratic and Republican Parties, Antonio Villaraigosa and Tim Pawlenty respectively, and gave the reasons why I think so.
Works Cited
Bruck, Connie. The New Yorker: Fault Lines, 2008.
Dahl, Travis. The People’s Media Company: Tim Pawlenty as Vice President Why He Should Be the VP Candidate for John McCain, 2008. Web.
O’Connor, Karen & Sabato, Larry J.,et al. American Government:Continuity and Change. Texas Edition(4th ed). New York:Pearson Longman, 2008.