Todd, Los Gatos California: “I haven’t really given it too much thought.… I thought that McCain’s choice for picking a woman was interesting, and Obama’s side, I’d say, I don’t know too much about his choice.” Todd hasn’t quite made his mind up yet, but said he was leaning towards Obama saying, “I think we need some changes, and I think he is more apt to do some changes, instead of more of the same.”
Jenny & Amber, Professionals, Los Gatos and Martinez, California: “I’m on the Obama side and a little shocked by the VP pick for McCain. She is very, very conservative but that’s probably why he picked her.” She did not have an opinion for Obama’s pick.
“Well, I wasn’t really shocked that he picked a woman, I was kind of expecting it because of the whole Hillary/Obama frenzy, so it was expected that he would pick a woman. But I do think she is pretty conservative, we will see what’s going to happen.”
“Either way we are going to have history, because we are either going to have the first woman vice president or were going to have the first black president.”
Alice, Retired, San Jose, California: “I think the democratic presidential nominee did very well. And the republican I don’t really know. That lady with a 4-month-old baby with Down syndrome, I don’t know if I would have gone out in public life. I don’t think I would have chosen that way.”
Bob, Architect, Boulder, Colorado: “No comparison, Biden has vastly more experience, and I think he is in a better position on all the issues that I care about.” “McCain’s age casts a stronger light on the whole vice presidential choice, because he is after all 72 years old. And I think his decision on picking someone with less experience than Obama and far less experience than Biden is a risky choice. Also she will probably appeal to the republican base because she is extremely conservative, but she is far to the right of McCain on many issues, so I wonder how compatible they would be in the long run.”
Tony, San Francisco, Obama Supporter: “I know Biden has been in since 1972 and he has had a lot of good causes, the strong point being foreign affairs.” When asked about vice presidential candidate Palin he said, “Never heard of her. Just heard of her the other day, did not have a chance to read about it.”
Sal, Business Owner, San Mateo, California: “My first impression was that I can’t believe it. For McCain, I can’t believe what he’s done, I just don’t understand why he went and did that. I guess he’s trying to even it up by choosing a young person who’s inexperienced. I think it may backfire on him—I asked some of my friends and they felt the same way. I don’t know much about him [Biden] but I did like his speech, I like the team, I like the energy they have, again I know he has a lot more experience than Palin.
“What if something happens, to Obama and what if something happens to McCain and if Obama were to be killed than you have someone who has a least been in congress for a long, long time. McCain could go into some sort of health problem and not be able to continue, than what do you have? I personally think that McCain could have done better”
Robert, Charity Bicyclist, Los Gatos, California: “Well, honestly I don’t know much about Biden. From the little I have heard, it sounds like he is a good choice to offset the deficiencies that Obama has from experience and foreign policy. I’m highly amused by McCain’s choice, basically he chose somebody who was as bad, if not worse than all the nasty things he was saying about Obama! OK, I think the man’s a moron. I will certainly not vote Republican and certainly not McCain. He slams Obama about not having experience then picks a running mate, and the only reason he picks her is to tap into Hillary’s disenchanted support base.”
