A lot has already been written about vice presidential choices, but I would recommend to Obama to do something which is common in the UK: assemble and present a shadow cabinet before the election.
Usually, the vice presidential choice is made and public well before the convention. The media is less than thrilled to show a meaningless three day cheerleading event on their valuable frequencies, if there is no news being made. What would be better to define the candidate and make news by actually starting with cabinet post nominations?
These people can then speak out for Obama on their policy issues during the campaign and thus demonstrate their competence.
Of course there are risks to that strategy. His nominees could stumble. They could distract.
But on the other hand: Breaking with tradition like this would embody the very change Obama is promising before he even takes office. And it would guarantee a multiple times more air time for the convention and he could use it to subsequently dominate news cycles when he needs it, eg. having to distract from problems with his campaign, or simply as a way to change the dominating issue.
Follow me after the fold, who I believe should be on that team:
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