COMPUTER SAYS IDEAL VP FOR BOTH DEMS & GOP IS THE SAME GUY
July 1st, 2008, 5:11 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Lehr
Well, this is funny, & I suppose unprecedented. From PC World magazine:
It turns out that the ideal vice presidential candidate for Senator John McCain, a Republican running for president, is the same person as the ideal vice presidential candidate for Senator Barack Obama, a Democrat, according to a sophisticated online survey by Affinnova.
For both presidential candidates, the best running mate is Colin Powell, a former U.S. Army general and former secretary of state under President George Bush, according to the survey, which was powered by an Affinnova algorithm it calls evolutionary optimization.
“We never imagined that the same candidate would show up for both parties,” said Steve Lamoureaux, Affinnova’s chief innovation officer.
Powell hasn’t publicly expressed an interest in running for vice president. McCain and Obama have both begun their searches for running mates.
Powell’s links to the current Iraq war didn’t seem to bother survey respondents, said Kevin Karty, vice president of analytics at Affinnova. Powell, in early 2003, argued for the war before the United Nations Security Council, but since he has left the Bush administration, he’s criticized its handling of the war.
“There might be an indication that people are willing to give him a pass [on Iraq],” Karty said. “He seems to be an extremely credible figure … and he’s trustworthy.”
…
Among Obama supporters, Powell was the top pick for vice president by a wide margin, Lamoureaux said. Behind Powell were former Vice President Al Gore and former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, who tied for second, followed by Senator Hillary Clinton and former Senator John Edwards. Affinnova was a bit surprised by Gephardt’s strong showing; the Missouri Democrat has been out of public office for three years.
Powell had a slight lead among McCain supporters, with current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney tied for second. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani came in fifth.
MORE: The Hotline reports today that Obama met with Powell last month.
What do you think? Is having “Powell” be the 2nd name on the ticket - any ticket - enough to sway your vote? Post a comment & let us know!
Also on the veepstakes front, Adam Nagourney of the New York Times has an article on the tricky timing associated with a) the Olympics & b) the back-to-back conventions this year, & provides this chart of past picks in relation to the party conventions:
The article is some interesting reading, & also provides this example of a liberal bias in Adam Nagourney:
“Of course, Mr. Obama has certainly broken some rules and assumptions in running his campaign this year. Would it necessarily be a bad thing for him to announce his choice during the conventions? If any candidate can hold its own against the Olympics, it may be Mr. Obama. “
As a friend points out, “Heck, maybe he could compete in the Olympics too!”
But what about holding a veepstakes Olympics? Track & field events, or maybe swimming? Best man or woman wins? That’s a new kind of politics, right?
