I think Obama's Team seriously misjudged their VP candidate: I think a lot of Dems (quite a number of them women - we do make up more than 50% of the adult public in this country) expected Hillary Clinton. One of my bosses at work says her hard-core Dem daughter isn't going to vote because she thinks Hillary should be in the White House.

Partnering with a 'rich white guy' helps to 'balance' his ticket, but it screws the ideology.