Obama’s VP Selection: a Different Type of Analysis

Politicos around the country are on the edge of their seats waiting for an email and text message announcing Obama’s vice presidential pick. Who? When? What will he/she bring to the ticket? Will Obama make a decision based on politics? Will he pick someone who shares his political philosophy? Will he choose someone who can carry a swing state? Will he pick someone who fills in for his weaknesses or someone who highlights his strengths?

Today, I begin a series of posts that focus on the most-often-mentioned VP selections, but leaves out the most frequently used political analysis. Instead, let’s take a look at what these potential nominees would bring to an administration in the area of social policy. What have they done in the past to help people move up the income ladder? What are their top social policy priorities? And how would adding them to the Obama ticket effect low-income families?

Note that this series will run until I run out of potential nominees or Senator Obama preempts my analysis with his final choice. Let’s begin…

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN)

The blogosphere is abuzz this morning about the potential selection of Sen. Bayh based on yesterday’s New York Times profile that highlights his role in the national security debate. However, Bayh brings more to the ticket than his national security credentials. He has been a strong leader on social policy issues throughout his ten years in the U.S. Senate and two-terms as Indiana governor. For example:

• He has been an active supporter of increased financial aid for higher education and helped pass the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, which raised maximum Pell Grants by almost $500, cut interest rates on subsidized student loans, and provided loan forgiveness to students who commit to public service careers.

• He introduced the Universal Higher Education and Lifetime Learning Act, which would consolidate the Hope Credit, the Lifetime Learning Credit and the tuition tax deduction into a more generous, single $3,000 tax credit.

• As a Senator and Governor he has been a champion of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program, which puts more police on the streets and has effectively reduced crime rates.

When it comes to social policy, however, fatherhood is arguably the issue most near to Bayh’s heart. He has been active in the National Fatherhood Initiative and has written at length about the social cost of absent fathers. In his “Essay on Fatherhood by Senator Bayh” featured in a book published by Larry King, he notes:

Today, 24 million children have no real relationship with their father. This growing epidemic has real consequences for our country. A child who grows up without the love and care of a father is five times more likely to live in poverty, and more likely to bring weapons and drugs into the classroom, commit crimes and drop out of school. They are more than twice as likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, commit suicide and to become teenage parents.

Understanding these consequences, he co-sponsored the Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act with Sen. Obama in 2006, which he reintroduced in 2007. This bill would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for non-custodial fathers who pay child support, give fathers more job training services, increase child support enforcement, and ensure that child support goes directly to children and mothers, instead of the states.

It’s easy to imagine that a Vice President Bayh would continue to keep fatherhood at the top of his portfolio.

Next up, Senator Joe Biden.