The first thing to consider when picking a vice president: Would this person be a good president? That was Sen. John McCain's fatal flaw in picking Gov. Sarah Palin. At the time, few could see her as president, and as we've learned more, that judgment is strongly confirmed.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., knows much more about government than Palin. But he, too, is a radical tea partyer.

We don't need an ideologue for president, we need a person who can work with all sides to forge compromise legislation that can be passed and signed and start to move us forward in solving our many challenges: education, infrastructure, energy, global warming, immigration, Medicare, the deficit, tax equity.

These are all national problems that require national solutions, which means compromise solutions. People are calling for our leaders to compromise. Ryan has shown that he's neither a compromiser nor a believer in the federal government being a vital part of the solution. He shouldn't be a heartbeat from the presidency.

In his first major decision, Mitt Romney has shown that, ultimately, he's a poor decider.

David Barber

Salt Lake City