John McCain had even less to say about cities and planning – absolutely nothing -- in his acceptance speech than Barack Obama did one week earlier. But, like Richard Nixon before him, he's got a vice presidential candidate who's long on local government experience but a short record as a governor. Why do local electeds rarely wind up in the presidential race? 

This year's is the first in American history in which both vice presidential candidates are former local elected officials. And because of Sarah Palin, ironically enough, it is the McCain candidacy that has raised the question of whether being an elected official in local government, dealing with zoning and land use and libraries and police officers, is good preparation for being president.

Ironic because McCain evinces almost no interest in domestic policy. And despite representing Arizona in Congress for more than a quarter-century, he still comes across as a guy who isn't really from anywhere – the perpetual Navy brat. By contrast, his running mate – and both members of the Democratic ticket – are deeply rooted in the places where they come from – suburban Anchorage, Wilmington, and the South Side of Chicago.

One thing is for sure: Local government is rarely a springboard to the presidency. Most politicians start out on their local planning commission, city council or school board. Yet most presidential and vice-presidential nominees bypass local office, starting out either in their state legislature (Obama) or in Congress (McCain).

Joe Biden, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, is such a creature of Washington (with 36 years in the Senate) that it's easy to forget he was elected at age 26 to the New Castle, Delaware, County Council, the office from which he ran for Senate at age 29. His Republican counterpart, Sara Palin, was elected to the City Council in Wasilla, Alaska, at age 28; and served six years as mayor beginning at age 32.

The last vice president with experience in local office was a Republican who, in some ways, bears more than a passing resemblance to Palin. That was Spiro Agnew, who had served as Baltimore County executive for four years (and on the Baltimore County Board of Zoning Appeals before that) but had been governor of Maryland for only a year and a half when Richard Nixon picked him as running mate in 1968. Agnew, of course, was best known as Nixon's mudslinger – the guy who went negative against the media, much to the delight of the conservative Republican base. Sound familiar?

Of course, Agnew picked up a few habits in local office in Baltimore that proved hard to shake when he became vice president. He eventually resigned amid allegations (probably true) that he had shaken down construction companies as governor and still tried to collect the bribes as vice president.

A few other scattered candidates had local experience. Hubert Humphrey, vice president and presidential candidate, was the fiery mayor of Minneapolis in the late 1940s, when he gained national renown for turning around the city's reputation as anti-semitic. Barry Goldwater, McCain's predecessor as Arizona senator, was an heir to a department store fortune who was elected in 1949 to the Phoenix City Council, which he used as a springboard to the Senate.

Most of these folks didn't have much of a local record. The one who did was Harry Truman, who served for 10 years as a county "judge" (commissioner) in Kansas City. Truman was affiliated with the Pendergast Democratic political machine, but he had a real record of achievement, including impressive public works programs during the Depression.

Truman, Agnew, and Humphrey were all elected to office in big cities. It's been a long time since the former mayor of a small city was president – or vice president. And you can bet that Palin isn't likely to imitate that fellow's style.

The taciturn Calvin Coolidge served as mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts, (population at that time about 19,000). Coolidge served as a city councilman, city solicitor, and clerk of courts – and then lost a race for the school board! – before being elected mayor in 1910. Barely a decade after leaving local office, he was elected vice president, and in 1923 he assumed the presidency when Warren Harding died of a heart attack.


 -- Bill Fulton