I think Dan Quayle vs Lloyd Bentson did a good job of showing that people will more readily vote for the ticket with the experience at the top than vice-versa.

As for "what happens after the swearing in": McCain picks his cabinet and governs the country. If he dies in office, Palin takes over until at least the next election, with that same cabinet in place and, presumably, after several years of "on the job training."

I think that's a more palatable "worst case scenario" than hope that Biden is able to tell his inexperienced boss what to do.

Basically, jason and other liberals are arguing that we should vote for Obama because he won't be a leader and will let his number two run things behind the scenes: precisely the thing they attack Bush for.