Both parties have chosen running mates that address their opponent's criticism of them, and that mirror their criticism of their opponents.

Hmm?

The strongest criticism the Demos had, and still have, of the McCain/Anybody ticket is "We can't afford four more years." I heard that phrase more than any other throughout the convention. McCain's choice of Palin seals the ideological deal for four more years of culture war at home, on top of a shooting war in western Asia. That's addressing a criticism by building a Maginot Line.

Everyone's strongest criticism of the Obama campaign, until he chose Biden, was "inexperience". Trumped... and with the ace, no less. My thought had always been "Biden for SecState," but as soon as I heard the news, I knew it was a brilliant move.

As for the mirroring:

There's tons of potential irony in Palin as 'celebrity candidate', if they turn her into one... and, what else could they possibly do, with such flimsy material to work with?

I'm not clear how the choice of Biden 'mirrors', unconsciously or otherwise, a Demo criticism of the Repos... because he's over 60? A Washington insider (even though he commutes back to DE most nights)?

Here's another thought: Pandering to the alleged disgruntled Hillary supporter. It seems that McCain thinks finding someone with two X chromosomes is enough, and he gets to pander to that American Taliban 'base' he's stuck with at the same time. Obama, on the other hand, found an intelligent person with experience in both judicial and foreign policy oversight who just happened to have roots in the blue-collar Northeast.