No. 2 is as important as No. 1

Who ever said being the vice president isn't as important as being the president? In this past administration, Vice President Dick Cheney showed that he was just as powerful and influential as (if not more than) President George W. Bush. So who says that the next president's v.p. won't be just as influential toward his or her decisions?

Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have already made passes at each other about the possibility of them taking the other as their v.p.. But Clinton's was sincere, saying that their joint ticket would be "unstoppable," while Obama turned her down.

According to April 1, a Gallup poll showed that more people would like to see Obama as Clinton's v.p., instead of Clinton being Obama's v.p. Only 42 percent of people polled during the end of March said they'd like to see Clinton as Obama's v.p. compared to 58 percent of people who said they'd like to see Obama as Clinton's v.p.

Sen. John McCain has also got to find his No. 2 man. Or woman. A flock of rumors swept through the party over the weekend, suggesting that Condoleezza Rice is active in McCain's campaign and is considering running as his v.p.

McCain said that he had "missed those signals," when talking about Rice's presumed interest in being v.p. on Sunday. But then Tuesday, Rice made an announcement that she looks forward to voting, not running for office and then going back to Stanford.

I wonder:
Could a black woman become popular enough to have Republicans vote for her, even if she is Bush's right-hand person?
Would the Republican party be bold enough as to introduce a person who's not a white male as the v.p. running mate as a vote-booster?
Would McCain be willing to have a diverse person as his running mate?