I've read a lot in The Spin Room about Palin and Biden and how both are, in their own way, totally incompetent and poor choices for VP.

But just for fun, let's set this year aside and, instead, look back. Who was a GOOD choice as a running mate in past elections? And let's not limit it just to a winning ticket. Who was a really good choice for VP?

George H.W. Bush - because he was qualified to actually be the president.

Lyndon B. Johnson - b/c Kennedy needed him to win in southern states.

Dick Cheney - b/c somebody needed to know what the hell they were doing .

dwr0109 Wrote:Dick Cheney - b/c somebody needed to know what the hell they were doing .

I would not put Cheney on that list. The longer things go, the more I think W was little more than a trojan horse for the neocons. None of them could get themselves elected because they're basically a bunch of jerks--Cheney, Rummy, Wolfowitz--but W was likeable enough to get elected and they could program him to do what they wanted. I think Cheney was the key player in that effort.

I would add

Harry Truman--he was thought a lightweight, but he did okay

Henry Cabot Lodge--to pick someone off a losing ticket, he was obviously qualified, and he probably helped Nixon with east coast republicans... Lodge vs. Johnson might have been the two most qualified VP candidates ever to square off... didn't have the VP debates in those days, it would have been interesting...

Cal Coolidge--probably a better man than his running mate Harding, who was the quintessential product of smoke-filled back room politics

Another good choice...

Theodore Roosevelt...McKinley's choice for VP even though campaign manager Mark Hanna despised him as "that damned cowboy". Roosevelt was a true reformer who, unlike William McKinley, took on Big Business when they abused the public interest.

RC Horn Wrote:Another good choice...

Theodore Roosevelt...McKinley's choice for VP even though campaign manager Mark Hanna despised him as "that damned cowboy". Roosevelt was a true reformer who, unlike William McKinley, took on Big Business when they abused the public interest.

McKinley was a damn good president.

Yes, TR stood up to big business (JPM) and was a true reformer. However, he went loopy at the end and was a liability to the country.

What do folks mean by "good VP"? Good at helping w/ an election? Good at the job of VP? Good at being pres when they got the chance?

LBJ was a horrible president. GWHB had the quals but wasn't a good president. Cheney has been a liability since Jan 2001, IMO.

DrTorch Wrote:What do folks mean by "good VP"? Good at helping w/ an election? Good at the job of VP? Good at being pres when they got the chance?

Actually, that's part of what I'm wondering. The VP's role is an elusive one and success probably lies in the margins.