ALL THOSE people on Gov. George W. Bush's "short" list must feel pretty dumb, losing the job to the interviewer, Dick Cheney. There's nothing about Cheney that will make him a poor running mate. But his selection by Bush is a disappointingly safe choice.
The early buzz implied Bush might make a bold statement by choosing someone to breathe some life into this race. Instead, he chose safety by selecting Cheney, a strongly right-wing Republican, instead of someone more moderate.
Mentioning Northeastern and pro-choice running mates stirred hopes that Bush would declare independence from the right wing. Instead, he selected a conservative very similar to himself.
I don't really have anything against Dick Cheney. The man has experience as a congressman and Secretary of Defense. But Cheney may be "too safe," says Rich Lowry, editor of the conservative The National Review, who argues that Cheney does not have the charisma of a reformer, either conservative or moderate. In essence, Bush picked a loyalist over a campaign aide.
It's one thing to avoid fractious debate during a time of national crisis. During the Cold War, when Americans lived in fear of nuclear conflict, it made some sense to push domestic policy questions to the back burner.
But today, without an imminent threat to national security, America is in the best possible shape for a debate about where our country should be going. The economy is growing at a rate once thought impossible. Now is the time for honest discussion.
Our political process has become increasingly nasty through the perceived need for party unity. It's difficult for politicians to run based on their stance on the issues when it becomes imprudent for them to disagree with the extremists in their party. To win, you must stand for something; that something has become defaming the other party. Often, though, the enemy -- from a policy perspective -- isn't really the opponent. It comes from within.
So let's reopen the issues, even if it means open debates -- on the convention floor, not just in committees -- about platforms. Even truly uninformed Americans aren't fooled. They realize that both parties have deep disagreements about important issues, even if they don't understand the complexities of those differences. So it won't hurt to admit the obvious -- that a consensus is often lacking.
Honesty hurts parties less than the humiliation produced by forced consensus. That happens in situations like Bob Dole's 1996 campaign, when the party refused to admit that its members could reasonably disagree on abortion. In a speech to Senate interns, Mr. Dole conceded that conservative inflexibility doomed his candidacy. Unless the Republican Party embraces moderates, it will lose again.
Vice President Gore can still set the tone for his party's convention in Los Angeles. Unlike Bush, he has successfully come out from under his father's shadow and shown substance of his own. Love him or hate him, Al Gore is not an intellectual lightweight.
Instead, Gore needs help campaigning. Dick Gephardt has chosen to focus on the House elections, but many other Congressional Democrats can provide leadership. There are several governors out there as well who would make good running mates for Vice President Gore. Gov. Gray Davis of California is controversial, but it took real leadership for him to take back control of the state from the Republicans. Gore needs a bold campaigner like Davis to help him articulate his ideas.
In a time in which "Survivor" has widespread appeal, the presidential candidates won't get the public's attention without taking risks. Bush and Gore hinted at substantive debate over Social Security, only to retreat back into their shells.
Voters want a fiscally healthy nation for their children. Health care remains largely unresolved. America is ripe for debate about how to remain a part of the global economy without compromising our ideals. There's no tidy solution to any of it, but it's a necessary discussion and Americans, especially college students, are ready.
Springtime is over; the candidates need to get serious. Bush and Gore must inject bold ideas into the campaign, not depend upon former and current presidents to win for them. The next president can't gain a mandate from a public that elected him not for him, but just because he didn't offend them.
(Elizabeth Managan is a Cavalier Daily columnist.)
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