Bob Dole, who knows something about winning -- and losing -- presidential elections, has two pieces of free advice for the 2008 White House hopefuls.
The first is that it's too early for John McCain, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to pick a running mate.
And the second is that when they do decide on a vice presidential choice, they should take a serious look at somebody who's not a politician.
"I think it would be good to take somebody outside of politics, somebody in a profession, who understands government," Dole told a National Press Club luncheon audience Friday. "... That would really appeal to the American people."
Actually, the former Senate majority leader, who was on the losing end of two presidential elections, as President Ford's running mate in 1976 and the GOP nominee 20 years later, had a third piece of advice for the presumptive GOP nominee and his two Democratic rivals.
Dole predicted that the key to the 2008 election will be which candidate --"whoever he is," implying that like most everyone else, he expects Obama to be the Democratic nominee -- carries Ohio, Michigan and Florida.
"If I'm John McCain, I'm looking at Ohio," the Kansas Republican said. "You don't get to be president without Ohio -- and Florida and Michigan," none of which he carried in 1996.
Speaking on the day that McCain allowed reporters to view his medical records, Dole said they "are very important," but described them as "very positive."
Not surprisingly, the 84-year-old TV pitchman for Viagara said he isn't concerned about McCain's age -- he will be 72 in August and would be the oldest person ever elected to a first term in the White House. "If age is an issue, I'll stay with him," said Dole, who was a few months older than McCain when he ran in 1996.
Dole's comments about the presidential campaign came during a question and answer session following a speech timed for Memorial Day in which he made an impassioned appeal for the care of wounded veterans of the U.S. military.
Dole, who was seriously wounded during World War II, called the recent disclosures of lack of proper care for some 4,000 seriously wounded veterans of the Iraq war at Veterans Administration facilities in Washington and elsewhere a national scandal, and said he hopes whoever is elected president will push for disability compensation and more funding for seriously disabled veterans.
Displaying little of his celebrated wit, a somber and at time emotional Dole recognized several wounded veterans in the audience, including Jose Ramos, a Navy corpsman in Iraq and a member of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors.
"We don't want to forget people like Jose, but we don't want to forget veterans from other wars," Dole said as he called on all Americans to pause for a moment of reflection on Memorial Day. "We're losing about 1,200 World War II veterans every day" out of a total of 26 million veterans altogether.
Dole praised President Bush for his support of veterans, noting that Bush spent several hours with President's Commission on Wounded Warriors, and "didn't ask how much it will cost" to adequately care for wounded vets. "He said three words -- 'Whatever it takes,'" Dole declared.
Dole concluded by reading an excerpt from a poem by John Stuart Mill that included the words, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse."
Afterwards, Charles Rubio of Washington, a Navy veteran of the Korean War, said he was moved to tears by Doles words.