Shopping for a Vice President

If you have been paying attention to the news the last few weeks you would think the Vice President of the country has the most important job in America. The truth of the matter is the Vice President's job is equivalent to a weenie inspector at a hot dog eating contest, always ready for action but rarely needed or noticed. I guess a Vice President could have a meaningful job but I can't ever remember one who did.
Presidential nominees are suppose to pick a running mate who can complement them but usually the Vice Presidential candidate is selected from the stand point of electability not the ability to help the President govern. In the current election, McCain could not win even if he chose Superman as his running mate and Obama could not lose even if his running mate was a Popsicle stick with a smiley face. As long as the Vice Presidential candidates look good on TV, have photogenic families, no scandals in their backgrounds and can win a big state or two, they make the short list.
I don't care about chemistry between the President and Vice President, this is not a romance or marriage. Just because they look good standing together does not mean the partnership can govern the country.
Why don't they just pick the Vice Presidential candidate at the convention or let us vote for the Vice Presidential candidate just as we do for the Presidential candidate. Neither one of those are going to happen this time around so the best we can hope for is for McCain and Obama to get lucky and find the right shopping list.