With Labor Day behind us, it's just eight more weeks before the longest presidential campaign in U.S. history is over. The next two months are when voters pay the most attention and make their decisions.

The Democrats came out of their convention with a solid, if predictable, ticket. Presidential candidate Barack Obama, 47, made a conservative choice of running mate in 65-year-old Senator Joe Biden, presumably to counter claims that he, Obama, is young and lacks experience, especially in the foreign policy arena. Biden has what it takes to be president if events should make that necessary.

Delaware voters first elected Biden to the U.S. Senate in 1972. He chairs the Senate Foreign Relations and Judiciary committee and boasts a long list of legislative accomplishments, including the Biden Crime Bill of 1994, which funded 100,000-plus more police officers in local communities.

He's run for president twice, the second time at the beginning of this primary season. He has a reputation for speaking off-the-cuff, which sometimes gets him in trouble, but his deep knowledge of national and international issues is unquestionable.

The Republican convention this week offers presidential candidate John McCain, 72, an opportunity to introduce his running mate, 44-year-old Sarah Palin, apparently chosen to respond to voter concerns about his advanced age and to snag some of the Hillary supporters who say they won't vote for Obama. But she doesn't have Hillary's credentials and viewpoints.

McCain's choice of Palin has been called bold, out-of-the-box, off-the-wall and risky, depending on the source. Her political history, and especially her acquaintance with national and international issues, is thin. Maybe she could be president someday, but she's not a reassuring back-up for McCain.

Palin has been governor of Alaska since Dec. 4, 2006. Previously, she was a city councilor in Wasilla, Alaska, for four years and served as mayor of Wasilla for two three-year terms. Wasilla, with a population of less than 10,000, is smaller than Lebanon.

It's not unusual for presidential candidates to reach into the ranks of their party and choose for vice president a person who is not expected. Think of Dan Quayle, Spiro Agnew, Tom Eagleton and Geraldine Ferraro, running mates of George H.W. Bush, Richard Nixon, George McGovern and Walter Mondale, respectively.

It takes some time for voters to learn about these dark horses - though less time now than before the Internet and 24-hour news channels. Palin will be in the media spotlight as never before, and already negative information about her is arising.

The conventional wisdom is that voters look at presidential candidates and not their running mates. We'll see if that holds true in the next two months.