The Kerry-Edwards Ticket

On March 3rd of 2004, Senator John Edwards dropped out of the democratic candidate running. John Kerry was instantly predicted to carry the title as the Democratic Presidential Nominee. Many analysis’s also predicted Edwards to be the primary candidate for vice presidency, supporting a Kerry-Edwards election ticket. This is precisely what occurred this past election, buy why in fact was Edwards chosen? I will choose to leave the Republican Party out of this scenario since Bush naturally selected Cheney as his running mate. It seems to be the case that the vice president hopeful for the democratic campaign must be someone to compliment the presidential hopeful. Therefore there are many single issues that we must look closer at in an effort to realize the positions, and backgrounds of each individual. Their respective backgrounds are viewed before the presidential elections for both John Kerry and John Edwards. Of note in each biography of these two senators are their achievements and social characteristics. Let us look at one issue on a one-dimensional issue space (which is one of the prerequisites for the median voter theorem). Kerry on one hand has served as an Assistant district attorney for 2 years, a Massachusetts lieutenant governor for 2 years, and as a senator since his election in 1984. Edwards on the other hand was elected into the senate in 1998 and before that was working as a trial lawyer. Our single issue in the policy space for this example is in public service positions (such as mayor, governor, senator...). Kerry then will appeal to those voters who derive much of their utility from an official in office with vast public service experience. Others in the single issue policy space will derive more utility from a public official with less experience in the hope, perhaps, that he will have more modern ideas that have not been dissolved after years in office. Therefore, the two men acting as one unit can derive votes from either end of the single issue policy space for their party. Both those who like past experience and those who do not like past experience in public office will have a reason to vote for the democratic party in the election. Let us consider the converse. If both Kerry and Edwards were lacking any public office experience, those deriving utility from this public office experience would likely cast their vote elsewhere in an effort to maximize utility. Both holding many years of public office experience holds the converse as well. Therefore, Edwards must compliment the President in single issues, to maximize the votes of the median voter. If the Presidential hopeful is on one end of the spectrum, then the vice president hopeful should be in the middle or opposite him. (I would note here, that this holds true for mainly social characteristics, and not political issues for which each stands. I in no way intend to conclude that the vice president candidate will disagree on issues with the presidential candidate.) Another characteristic of note for the two gentlemen is in Demographics. Kerry is predominately the voter’s choice in the northeastern states, namely Massachusetts. Edwards then was selected to cover the southeastern states, due to his many years of living in North Carolina. Kerry is not the epitome of attraction at the age of 60, however Edwards is a clean cut handsome man at 50 years old. There are many other issues as well that the democratic party must look at for maximizing votes for their candidates. The pair seeks to gain extra votes through various qualities that each possesses, in order to collectively appear as the most capable team running.