DecideBetter! Offers Vice Presidential Decision Making Advice To McCain and Obama

PRLog (Press Release) - Jun 16, 2008 -
Dallas, TX– Michael E. McGrath, the founder of DecideBetter! has sent a memo to campaigns of Democratic Presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama and Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain outlining the five critical factors and the process for evaluating candidates for their vice presidential nominee.  The memo offers no partisan agenda nor does it promote any potential candidates. Rather it offers 5 categories of factors that the two candidates should consider when selecting their running mate.  The selection that both Senators Obama and McCain will be making will be the most important public decision the two nominees will be making during their campaigns, and will be used by the American public to judge their decision-making abilities.  The 5 factors that McGrath outlines to the candidates are:

1.   Suitability to be President of the United States
2.   Suitability to be the Vice President of the United States
3.   Chemistry with the Presidential Nominee
4.   Electability and Assistance with Electoral College Strategy
5.   Grooming to be the Next President of the United States

The importance of these factors is that they balance some very different considerations. The first is by far the most important if needed, but may not be necessary. The next two relate to the actual job of the vice president and his ability to work with the president. The final two are political considerations. How the nominee decides to weigh each of these factors will ultimately determine his selection decision.

“Selecting a vice presidential nominee is the first major critical decision made by the nominee,” said Michael E. McGrath, Founder of DecideBetter!  and author of Decide Better for a Better Life. “It’s a critical decision for the country, and will be used by voters to evaluate the way each candidate makes decisions.  Too often, in major decisions, the process of decision making itself is flawed, resulting in less than desirable decisions being reached. So I wanted to help them with a suggested approach and provide a framework for subsequent evaluation of their decision by the American public.”

The office of vice president has evolved in importance since the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, when Richard Nixon became the first vice president with major responsibilities.  Prior to that the office was largely overlooked and it was not until Warren G. Harding in 1920 that the vice president even sat in on presidential cabinet meetings.  The decision making process of selecting a vice president did not begin to receive attention until 1976 in the aftermath of Watergate due to both Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller being appointed to the vice presidency.  Prior to that, presidential nominees selected their running mates at the last moment and often without having met them or knowing their positions on key issues.  For example, Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt were both political opposites of their vice presidents who they completely disregarded and John Nance Garner, Franklin Roosevelt’s first vice president was completely opposed to the New Deal and opposed Roosevelt for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1940.  Indeed it was not until Theodore Roosevelt that a vice president who assumed the presidency upon the death of his president was elected to the presidency in his own right.  Starting in 1960, with Richard Nixon, thirteen vice presidents or vice presidential nominees have either become president or mounted their own presidential campaign.  These factors belie the importance that must go into the decision making process of a vice presidential candidate.

The process outlined by McGrath will allow the presidential candidates to make a sensible and rational approach in selecting a vice presidential nominee, balancing criteria that serve the political goals with those of the position itself.  Michael McGrath and DecideBetter! believe regardless of what decision a person makes, it is the process that is used in making the decision that is critical to achieving the desired results.  The memo provided to the vice presidential search committees allows them to compare potential running mates to the five essential categories that are needed in selecting a candidate who is ready to assume the presidency and act cohesively with the presidential nominee.  McGrath also in his memo discusses the importance of weighing the five factors prior to evaluating the potential candidates.  

DecideBetter! has been founded to help people make better decisions in their everyday lives. By making better decisions, everyone can make a better life for themselves. It’s first book, DecideBetter! for a Better Life, will be released in early August. For more information about DecideBetter!, please visit the website at www.decidebetter.com.