Hillary Clinton hovers over debate

By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff

Joe Biden and Sarah Palin can thank Dick Cheney for making the vice presidency seem important -- and Hillary Clinton for making their own candidacies seem inadequate.

Politicians used to line up to make jokes about the vice presidency -- "a warm bucket of spit," and so on -- and now, suddenly, it is being viewed as the most elite power perch in the Capitol.

The vice president is more than just a heartbeat away; the vice president is now presumed to be there, in the White House, riding herd on the government.

Cheney, whose decisive influence on the war on terrorism has been widely acknowledged, can be credited with enhancing the stature of the office. To many, he has also demonstrated the importance of closely vetting the candidates for the nation's number-two job.

But that's only one reason that this year's only vice presidential debate coming up tonight attracted more buzz than the first debate between the two presidential contenders.

Another is the drama surrounding Barack Obama's decision to bypass Clinton as his vice-presidential choice. There has been a very loose tradition of candidates in closely contested nomination fights giving the number two slot to the runner-up: John F. Kennedy chose Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan chose George H. W. Bush, and . . . well, there haven't been too many more recent examples.

Then again, there haven't been too many nomination fights as closely contested as Obama's and Clinton's, and many of her supporters felt she was owed an offer.

Obama's failure to extend one opened the door to Biden -- and to Palin, whose addition to the GOP ticket by John McCain was aimed in part at wooing disaffected Clinton supporters.

Both Biden and Palin have paid tribute to Clinton in ways that have embarrassed their supporters. The normally combative Palin -- once nicknamed Sarah Barracuda -- caused a few hiccups on the right wing by kicking off her campaign with strong words of praise for Clinton.

Palin spoke proudly of the 18 million votes that Clinton garnered in the Democratic primaries and suggested that many of those voters would rally to her cause. "The women of America aren't finished yet," she said. "We can shatter that glass ceiling."

About two weeks later, Biden, rising to the challenge, raised some eyebrows in Nashua, N.H., by declaring that Clinton might have been a better pick than himself -- "not because she's a woman, but because, look at the things she's done in the past."

The two comparisons seemed to reflect better on Clinton than on the two veep candidates, raising questions about whether Palin is, as she seems to think, as qualified as Clinton was, and whether Biden may be living up to his unfortunate reputation for making odd statements.

Unlike presidential candidates, vice presidential candidates lack the validation of having been chosen by the voters. Their fitness is therefore perpetually in question.

Palin's selection produced initial excitement among conservatives, followed by some second thoughts. Her weak answers to interview questions posed in the past week by CBS anchor Katie Couric raised inevitable questions about her lack of experience in foreign policy and managing the economy.

Biden's experience is extensive, after 35 years in the Senate. But his five re-elections in the small state of Delaware were only lightly challenged, so there is reason to wonder if he's fully armed for political combat.

Clinton, by contrast, has been on the campaign trail for almost two years, criss-crossing the same proving grounds as Obama.

His failure to choose her shadows this year's vice presidential contest. It's fair to say that Clinton's presence, as much as Cheney's, has been hovering over the race this year.

Hers is the empty seat at the vice presidential debate.